A Nice Way To Meet Your Soulmate
by PercabethFanatic
Summary: There were many ways Annabeth Chase imagined that she'd meet her soulmate. Spilling her coffee on him certainly wasn't the way. She also didn't expect her soulmate to be such an idiot - a Seaweed Brain, in fact. Neither did she expect her soulmate to have a daughter. (AU. Maybe some OOC moments because they are not demigods) I don't own the cover image - burdge-bug does!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One - Coffee Spill

**Disclaimer - I don't own PJO or HoO, Rick Riordan does. **

**Summary - There were many ways Annabeth Chase imagined that she'd meet her soulmate. Spilling her coffee on him certainly wasn't the way. She also didn't expect her soulmate to be such an idiot - a Seaweed Brain, in fact. Neither did she expect her soulmate to have a daughter. **

Sighing, I rifled through my work papers. I work as an architect, you see, its been my dream job since I'd first heard of it, which was a very, very long time ago.

I loved my job, yet sometimes, my fellow workers seemed like idiots. I groaned as I spotted another mistake. Silly people, I seethed silently.

Grumbling, I reached for my coffee without taking my eyes off my papers. I touched it, but then, it seemed to go out of my reach.

"Ouch! Hot, hot, hot, hot!" Someone screamed. I started in surprise, my eyes widening in alarm. I shot up from my seat and looked in shock as a man hopped around the small, pleasant cafe, like a madman. It seemed as if the poor man had coffee spilt on him, judging by the brown stain on his shirt. I blinked. I looked at my own coffee cup. It wasn't there.

Realization hit me. "Oh, my gods, I am so sorry!" I jumped to the man's side, grabbing my handkerchief from my purse. I handed it to him, yet I was pretty sure it wouldn't do much to the massive stain on his shirt.

The guy sighed and looked down at it, his cheeks red. "Its alright." He mumbled, touching the stain lightly.

"I'm sorry." I repeated again, feeling all my pride desert me. I felt ashamed. The guy looked up and the first thing I instantly noticed were his eyes. They were sea-green, a peculiar shade of green, but a nice, warm shade of green. The eyes blinked.

"Oh... Hey..."

I blushed, realizing I was staring. "Hi." I squeaked, feeling odd. What was this feeling in the pit of my stomach? I'd only ever felt it once before, but I haven't felt it in a long, long time.

"I'm Percy." The guy stuck out his hand, looking rather awkward. His eyes rested on mine and I felt my cheeks turn a faint shade of pink. I watched his messy, black hair move slightly as someone entered the cafe, causing the wind to enter and tousle the man's hair.

"Annabeth." I said, forcing myself to return to my normal tone of voice.

"Um, excuse me."

"What now?" I blurted out, feeling rather annoyed at this person who dared to intrude on our conversation.

It was a waitress. Her eyes bugged out at my tone. She gestured weakly to a small puddle of coffee lying on the ground, right beside my shoe. I groaned and slapped myself inwardly.

"Sorry." I mumbled. Yep, all my pride had definitely deserted me.

I looked back up at Percy and saw him looking down at me with an amused smile playing on his lips. My gods, they looked so soft. Wait, what?

"Um, sorry about your shirt." I apologized again.

Percy shrugged. "Its alright, I was only heading home."

I nodded, feeling a little disappointed that he hadn't just arrived. I was pretty sure we could have a nice chat. I sighed and mentally slapped myself, I was crazy.

"Okay, see you then, Percy." His name felt nice on my tongue. Percy grinned.

"See you, Annabeth, it was nice meeting you."

"Same here."

The two of us continued standing there, looking at each other. Percy rubbed the back of his neck uncertainly.

"Well, I should be going."

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye."

He still continued to stand there, so did I.

"You know, I guess I don't have to go home right now." His cheeks turned crimson as he spoke.

"Oh. So, I suppose I shouldn't say 'bye' just yet then." I returned.

Percy smirked. "Yeah." Then, he plopped down on the seat opposite mine.

I sat back down on my seat the two of us just sat there, looking at the other.

"So, Annabeth..." Percy looked at me. "Whats your last name?"

I blinked. "Why should I tell you?" I blurted. "You might be a serial killer."

Percy gaped at me. "A cereal killer?"

"No, serial. With an 'S'." I clarified. Percy blushed.

"Ah, I see." He paused, thinking. "You think I might be a serial killer?"

I laughed at his reaction, I couldn't help it. I found it quite cute, the way he threw me a joking glare and crossed his arms.

"You could be." I managed to say, between my laughs. I was pretty sure I was attracting some stares from the other people in the cafe.

Percy placed a hand over his heart. "You wound me, Annabeth."

I snickered. "Its Chase."

He blinked at me, obviously confused. "Huh?"

I sighed. "Its my last name."

"Oh." He offered. I looked at him, waiting for him to continue. He shot me a weird look. "What?"

"What do you mean 'what?'?" I queried.

Percy facepalmed. "Why are you looking at me weird?"

Offended, I sat up straighter. "I don't look at you weird!" I protested. "I was waiting for you to continue!"

"What?"

I sighed, probably for the millionth time. "I was waiting for you to tell me your last name!" I huffed.

Percy raised an eyebrow cockily. "Why'd you want to know? For all I know, you could be a serial killer. Or even worse, a clown!"

I looked at him. "A clown." I repeated his words, exasperated yet amused. "You find a clown worse than a serial killer?"

Percy raised his hands up in the air. "Hey, clowns are scary, you know. You could be like, the person that leads the clowns and stuff! Like, the person that orders the clowns around or whatever! Or a clown!"

I raise an eyebrow. "I assure you, I am not a clown or a serial killer, Percy."

Percy smirked. "Prove it."

I glared at him. "How the hell am I supposed to prove that to you?"

"Think of something, Chase." He smirked, using my last name.

"Fine... Percy." I finished lamely. He snorted at my attempt. I grab my work papers and hold them up in front of him. "You see this? I work at an architectural firm." I state.

"You could've stolen them off of your last victim." He pointed out, grinning cockily. I feel annoyed, I know I started this, but now I feel very annoyed.

"I do not have victims!" I snap. Percy smirks at my reaction.

"And how do you prove that, Ms. Chase?"

I glare at him. "You're insufferable."

"I win." He drawls out. I roll my eyes.

"Who said you won?"

Percy laughs at me. "Can you prove that you aren't a serial killer or a clown?" He demands, leaning over the table. I feel my breath hitch slightly as I feel his warm breath drift onto my lips.

"I don't have to prove it. Any sane person would know that I am not a serial killer or a clown."

"How so?" Percy props an elbow up and leans his chin against it, looking up at me. I momentarily lose focus as my eyes meet his green ones. "I like your eyes, by the way. They're pretty."

I blink, surprised. I definitely wasn't expecting that.

"Um. Thanks." I say shortly. Percy snorts at me. I shoot him an annoyed look. "What now, genius?"

Percy grins at the title, but continues. "You don't do this a lot, huh?"

I raise an eyebrow. "Yeah, you're right. I don't spill my coffee on random guys and sit down with them and argue whether or not I'm a serial killer or a clown. You're right, I really don't this a lot."

Percy rolls his eyes. "Not that, Chase."

I look at him, confused. "What do you mean then?"

Percy cracks a small smile. "You don't flirt, huh?"

I instantly turn red. "I do flirt!" I state, slamming my hands down on the table. Percy raises an eyebrow.

"Okay, babe. Whatever you say." He winks at me and leans back in his chair, straightening up.

I gape at him. "'Babe'?" I make a disgusted sound in the back of my throat as I repeat it.

"Its a term of endearment, babe. You must be used to that, huh?"

I gag at the 'term of endearment'. "Fine, I don't flirt, alright?" I demand. "I find it stupid." I state honestly.

Percy looks at me. "You find it stupid?"

I nod. "Yes, I do."

Percy looks at me. "Why?"

I shrug. "I just do."

Percy considers my answer and lets a smile fall onto his lips. "Alright then, Chase."

I sigh, changing the subject once more. "Whats your last name, Percy?" I ask.

Percy grins. "You may not be a clown or a serial killer," He lets me off the hook and I let out a silent breath of relief, "But how do I know you won't flip out?"

I raise an eyebrow. "Why would I flip out?"

Percy smirks. "You know, if we got married, you wouldn't have to change your initials." He winks, sending me into a state of speechlessness.

"I'm sorry." I glare at him. "I'm afraid I misheard you."

Percy laughs. "I'm just messing with you, Chase." He says fondly, beginning to stand up.

"Where are you going?" I ask, hiding my worry.

Percy grins at me cheekily. "You miss me already, huh?"

I flush hotly. "Shut up."

Percy smirks. "I got to go home, Annabeth."

I look at him. "Why?"

His smile brightens up a little. "I've got a little girl back home who I've got to take to a birthday party."

I, on the other hand, feel sick. "A little girl?" _You're married?_

He nods. "Name's Sophie." He grins. "She's the sweetest little thing on earth."

I force a smile onto my face. "She sounds lovely. How old?"

Percy smiles at my question. "She's five." _Happily married for more than five years?_

"Oh." I mumble. He looks a little concerned as I begin playing with my fingers. "Um, well have a good time at the party with your daughter." I say, feeling nervous.

Percy nods. "Are you alright, Annabeth? You're all pale and stuff." His concerned face hovers a little way above mine. I plaster a smile on my face, shooing his face away.

"I'm great, I think I just got a little stomach ache." I lied. He nods once more.

"Oh. Well, it was nice meeting you, Annabeth." He murmured. I nodded, continuing to smile.

"It was nice meeting you too, Percy." I say genuinely. He looks at me as if he wants to say something else, but turns on his heel and begins walking out of the cafe, not before waving a final farewell to me.

When I hear the door close, I feel my heart shatter. I slam my head on the table and release a gigantic groan, causing some of the other people to look over at me curiously.

Just then, my phone rings. Sighing, I reach into my purse and pull out my phone, I answer the call. "Hello."

"Hey, Annabeth, its me."

I roll my eyes. "Who is 'me', exactly?" I recognize the voice though.

"Connor." Ah, its Connor. Him and Travis sound too similar.

"What do you need, Connor?"

"Who said I needed anything?" He asks defensively, sounding quite offended. I can tell that he's joking though, I can hear the smile in his voice.

"Connor, the only times you ever called me so far was because you needed something from me that you couldn't get from other people or because you wanted me to do something that you couldn't get other people to do."

Connor snorts from the other end of the phone. "Who knows, Annabeth? I might be breaking that tradition now."

I sigh. "Just tell me what you need, Connor."

"Can you take my son to this birthday party?" He asks simply. I think about it. I didn't have any work today, I'd done it all yesterday. Tomorrow was my work day, so I was all set to go. Plus, Brody, Connor's son, was a sweetheart and it certainly was no biggie to take him to a party.

"Sure, Connor. But you owe me big time."

I can literally see Connor in my mind rolling his eyes. "Big time for what? Giving you something to do to prevent you from dying of boredom?"

I scowl. "Shut up, Stoll. I'll take your son to the party."

Connor laughs at my reaction. "Thanks, Annabeth."

"No need to thank me, you'll be owing me anyways."

"Who knows? You might enjoy it anyways."

"Whatever. See you later, Stoll."

I snap my phone shut, ending the call. Placing my phone back in my purse, I realize I've forgotten something. I peer into it. The only thing that seems to be missing is my handkerchief.

_Percy. _

I sigh. I was quite attached to that handkerchief, it was given to me by my grandmother and all that, and I sure loved my grandmother. Well, at least Percy had something to remember me by.

Time to go get Brody.

**Author's Note: So, how'd you like it? If you enjoyed and want to see more, click the follow button to let me know! Or, you can drop me a review if you'd like and I'll respond! You can also click favorite if you think you really like it :) Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two - Party

**Disclaimer - I don't own PJO or HoO, Rick Riordan does.**

**Thanks to dakota845, TailsDoll13, haannah515, Zayad, koolkimoov, EnlightenedElementalWarrior, SilverFang3, MaryXD, akd007, Neptune91, Liveyourlifedanceing, elinor phantomhive, Sadie Breezy-Frost, alyaJackson, DrewTheSeagull, Piperness, annabethchase999, Moonbeam Ray, Qwerty232323, Luna082, percy-annei, lileverlark, PercyJackson is SeaweedBrain, honeymello, Blackwolfy, halfblood, I am Krista Daughter of Apollo and Hckygal12!**

**Summary - There were many ways Annabeth Chase imagined that she'd meet her soulmate. Spilling her coffee on him certainly wasn't the way. She also didn't expect her soulmate to be such an idiot - a Seaweed Brain, in fact. Neither did she expect her soulmate to have a daughter.**

* * *

Driving down the streets of Manhattan, I see pedestrians walking along the sidewalk everywhere. Its a normal thing to see, but for some reason I'm searching for someone among those people. Percy.

I don't know why I'm looking for him, maybe its because he has my handkerchief? I don't even know if he walked back home. Anyways, he's probably at the party he had to take his daughter to anyways.

"So, what did you get the birthday kid?" I ask, glancing at the rear view mirror at Brody. I can hear the smile in Brody's voice as he responds.

"I got Matthew a water gun!" He announces, excitement rolling off him in waves. "I remember Matthew saying he wanted one for Christmas but he did not get one."

"Oh, thats nice of you." I smile as I picture Brody looking around a store with Connor at his side.

"Annabeth, I do not think I will like the party so much." Brody speaks up from the back row, sounding rather honest. I spare a quick glance back at him.

"Um, why? Parties are fun!" I say, trying to sound excited and eager.

I hear Brody moan. "I do not think this party will be fun though." He protests. "Matthew invited 'everyone' in our class! Everyone!"

I roll my eyes inwardly. "Everyone? Whats so bad about that? That means everyone is included, its nice!"

I can literally see Brody facepalming in my mind's eye as I finish my sentence. The mental image makes me grin. "There is a girl in my class called Sophie!"

I momentarily forget to breathe. "What?" I stammer. Could it be? Percy's Sophie? I swallow roughly and turn my attention back to the road, you know, so we won't die.

I see Brody nodding in the rear view mirror. "Yeah, I know! Sophie hates me! I do not know why! Girls are weird!"

I shoot him a look in the mirror and see Brody see my expression. He turns red.

"You are not weird, though." He quickly adds. I smirk at him and see him redden even more.

"So, uh... Why do you think she hates you?" I question.

"I think it was because I broke her color pencil." He admits thoughtfully. I raise an eyebrow.

"That wasn't very nice." I say, sounding serious. However, I inwardly giggle at Brody's reaction.

"I said I was sorry..." Brody mumbles, covering his face with his hands.

"We're here!" I announce, checking the directions Connor sent me quickly on my phone. Brody unbuckles his seatbelt, ignoring my protests and snatches his present for Matthew.

"Yes!" Brody cheers as I park the car out near the house. He opens the door and runs out, slamming the door behind him. I wince at the loud bang and exit out of the car as well. I lock the car as I begin running to catch up with Brody.

"Annabeth?"

I spin on my heels at the sound of my name and see Percy standing a few feet away from me, his mouth open in the shape of an 'O'.

"Percy?" I stammer.

Then, a grin crosses his face, and I see that he's holding hands with a little girl. "Hey, Chase, this is Sophie." He gestures down at the girl beside him.

I smile, looking down at his daughter. "You're pretty." I blurt, I mean it, though. She has Percy's sea-green eyes, but they are a little bit more lighter than Percy's. Plus, she's got red, wavy hair that fits perfectly with her eyes. She even has the light splattering of freckles across her face that make her look adorable.

Sophie blushes. "Thank you." She murmurs, her voice barely above a whisper. "You are pretty too."

Percy cuts in, his tone amused. "Is this how a woman greets herself to children?"

I glare at him and he shuts up. I look back down at Sophie. "Do you know Brody? He's here."

Sophie scowls and I feel a little jealous at how pretty she looks even when she does that. I was pretty sure that when I was a child and pulled that look off, I looked pretty hideous. "He broke my color pencil." She crossed her arms and huffed.

I force myself not to laugh, I glance at Percy, he also looks as if he's trying not to laugh at his daughter's reaction as well. I straighten up instantly.

I clear my throat. "I've got to go check on Brody, I think he's in the house."

Percy steps up beside, raising an confused eyebrow. "We can all walk in together, Chase."

I nod, shrugging as if I didn't care. However, I could feel my palms begin to step as the three of us began walking towards the birthday boy's house. When we reach the front porch, Percy knocks on the door before I can even raise a finger. I shoot him a look and he smirks at me.

The door opens and I see a plump woman with greying blonde hair looking up at us, her beady brown eyes making me feel like she can see straight into my soul.

"Hello! Welcome! Come in, come in!" She literally drags both Percy and me by our arms inside. Then, when she sees little Sophie, her eyes lighten up spectacularly. "The other kids are in the living room, dear." She pats Sophie's head fondly and Sophie blinks up at her shyly.

"Thank you, Miss."

The woman chuckles. "No problem." She looks back at Percy and me. "You can leave me with your daughter, you two, I'll keep a close eye on all the kids. I've also got a couple of helpers with me as well." She gestures to a couple of children standing a couple of feet away looking away from us. However, I don't really register that since the lady's words keep spinning in my head over and over again.

"We're not married." Percy stammers awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck, his cheeks becoming red quite fast. I nod in agreement.

"Yeah, I just dropped off Brody, we met right outside." I add. Percy casts me a swift, confused look but when I meet his gaze he looks away hurriedly.

The woman nods, blushing a little at her mistake. "Sorry." She blinks back at the two of us. "Listen, I'll take care of your children and you can come pick them up around 4 in the afternoon."

I nod. "Thanks, miss..."

The woman grins at me toothily. "I'm Megan Turner, Matthew's grandmother."

"Thanks, Mrs. Turner." Percy thanks her, I do the same as well. She waves farewell as the two of us exit out of the house.

"That was... awkward." I tell him as we walk down the pathway leading to our cars parked on the sidewalk. Percy chuckles.

"Yeah, it sure was." He agrees. I purse my lips but Percy asks me a question.

"I didn't know you had a child, a son, I mean. I was kind of surprised to see you here." He admits, his tone slightly forced. I look at him, my expression blank.

"Brody's not my son." I say stiffly. Percy blinks, obviously surprised.

"Oh. So... uh, why'd you bring him?"

"My friend asked me." I answer. Percy nods, pursing his lips.

"I'm not married." He murmurs.

I stiffen. "Oh? I assumed you were." I respond, nearing my car.

"I was, but it didn't work out. But we're still really good friends."

I nod. "Thats nice. It must've been hard for Sophie."

I see Percy grimace through the corner of my eye. "Yeah, but I guess she was too young to understand what was going on back then. She was only two." He mumbles.

I take out my car keys and unlock my car. "Well, uh, it was nice seeing you again, Percy." I tell him honestly. Percy watches me as I open my door.

"It was nice seeing you too, Annabeth."

I pause. "You still didn't tell me your last name."

Percy cocks his head to the side, smirking evilly at me. "And I'm not going to tell you for a very, very long time, Chase."

I roll my eyes and lean against my open car door. "Just tell me, Percy."

Percy sighs, mimicking an annoyed look, however I can see the smile in his eyes. "Its Jackson, Annabeth."

I test out his name on my tongue, earning myself a weird look from Percy. "Its got a nice ring to it, you know." I offer.

"So does Annabeth Chase." He returns easily, grinning lopsidedly at me.

The two of us continue standing there like idiots, me leaning against the car door, and Percy with his hands in his pockets looking around.

"Well, I should be going." I say, forcing a smile on my face and looking at Percy. Percy's mouth opens immediately.

"Can I come?" He asks quickly, his eyes filled with hope. I raise an eyebrow.

"To my house?" I try not to laugh as I see Percy blush hotly.

"No, no!" He stammers, he rubs the back of his neck. "I mean if I could like hang around with you or something. But never mind."

I think about it. Percy would be good company, and being around him makes me oddly happy. The only things I don't like about Percy is how annoying he could be if he chose to, as well as how my heart always seems to start beating erratically whenever I'm around him. I also don't like the way that Percy can always seem to make me blush and whatever.

I close my car door and lock it with my keys, ignoring Percy's confused and startled expression as I do so. "Lets walk." I say simply, setting down on the sidewalk. I hear Percy's footsteps behind me as he catches up to me.

"So, where are we heading?" He asks, casting me a sideways look.

"I have no idea." I respond quickly. Percy grins at me.

"Thats a first."

I nudge him in his side, not roughly, but not too gently either. Percy shoots me a look, half amused and half annoyed.

"You didn't tell me you had a violent streak." He shakes his head. "But, then again, you don't need to." He smirks.

I glare at him. He stops.

"Geeze, that was terrifying." He stammers.

"Seriously, Jackson?" I shake my head, annoyed by him. I hear him sigh from beside me.

"Sorry, Chase." I feel him throw an arm around my shoulders, momentarily rendering me thoughtless. "Friends again?"

I swallow roughly. "Sure, friends."

He grins lopsidedly at me. "I knew you couldn't resist, Chase."

I look at him, my expression totally blank. He squirms uncomfortably as I stop walking, making him stop as well. "What did you mean by that?" I ask, keeping my tone cool. Its funny, seeing Percy act so uncomfortably.

Percy laughs weakly, trying to look calm, but failing miserably. I can tell I'm scaring him. Inwardly, I smirk. "Uh, you know. My Percy charm." He winks at me but I just keep on staring him down.

"Percy charm? I don't see any sort of charm with you there." I retort easily.

Percy flushes. "You are scary, you know?"

I glare at him, barely manage to contain my amusement as he suddenly shrinks before me. "I'm aware of that, Percy."

I see sweat beginning to form on his brow, and that breaks me. I begin laughing idiotically, pointing at Percy and literally saying the syllables: "HA HA HA HA!" while laughing.

Percy is watching me cautiously with a tad bit of amusement. "You were having me on, weren't you?" He demands, scowling at me.

"Aw, come on, Percy." I smirk. "Lets go grab some coffee."

The two of us resume our walking, this time with a destination.

The two of us begin talking, exchanging stories about our lives. I learn that Percy is a Marine Biologist and he learns that I'm an architect. I learn that he fears clowns, which I'd discovered earlier today, but Percy clarifies that information. He learns that I fear relationships.

"Why?" He'd asked me. I told him that in the end, all relationships would break. Percy had given me a look and told me that the only relationships that would break were when the people in the relationship would stop trying to make it work.

After that mini conversation, he discovers I fear spiders when I walk face-first into a cobweb and a spider lands down on my nose.

Percy had burst out laughing after I'd managed to flick it off and destroy it and run about five meters away from the dead spider. I'd glared at him which shut him up pretty quickly, however, I could tell he was still struggling to hide his obvious amusement as I carefully peeled off the disgusting webs.

When we'd finally made it to a small, comfy and warm coffee hut, the two of us had learned a lot about the other. I'd enjoyed our talk and I was quite glad that I'd run into him again.

"May I have your phone number?" I ask as we wait for our coffees to be delivered. Percy and I are sitting in front of each other next to the window.

Percy grins at me cockily. "You know, if you want to do this again, you just had to ask. I was a little disappointed when you didn't ask me for my phone number earlier, you know? It almost broke my heart." He smiled.

I rolled my eyes at this earning a chuckle from Percy. The two of us exchanged numbers and I was quite pleased at this development and I could tell that Percy was glad as well. We spent the rest of our time drinking our coffees and speaking and joking towards each other.

I decided that I loved the twinkle in Percy's eyes whenever he brought up Sophie and whenever he talked about his job or the sea or surfing or diving. However, as much as I like Percy's eyes, thinking that they were amazing and all that, I also got annoyed at how they always seemed to go into a dreamy mode whenever I began talking about architecture.

I decided to let him off the hook since I was pretty sure he didn't know what in the world I was talking about, however, I was hoping that if we had the opportunity, I'd be able to teach him all that. So that, instead of being bored, Percy would be interested in what I had to say about architecture.

However, I sort of doubted that since at the end of my rant, Percy was halfway into dreamland.

"Hello? You there?" I watch him almost slump head first onto the table before I manage to wake him up. He gave me a sheepish smile.

"Sorry, Annabeth. I just didn't understand what you were saying." He admitted, running a hand through his hair.

"Its fine." I sighed. "Lets talk about something else." I offered. He nodded eagerly, but just then, my phone rang with a text.

It was just from my mother, something about me having to work overtime tomorrow. I sighed. She was head of the firm I worked for. Then, I spotted the time on my phone. Half an hour till 4.

"Whats up?" Percy asked as I stood up and started gathering my things. Then, I froze as I finished up zipping my purse.

"Hey, do you have my handkerchief?" I asked. Percy blinked, startled.

"Handkerchief?" Realization hit him and he nodded. "Oh yeah, thanks for that, by the way." He reached into his pocket and handed it to me, I smiled as I took it and placed it in my purse.

"No problem." I said. "Its time to get ready, about thirty minutes till four and we got to pick up the kids."

Percy nodded, standing up as well. "Lets go!" He smiled and yanked on the cuff of my sleeve. Rolling my eyes, I let him drag me out of the coffee hut.

The walk back to the party was quite fun as well, I was seriously beginning to doubt that anyone who spent time with Percy would have a horrible time.

"Hello!" Mrs. Turner greeted us, beaming.

"Hi, Mrs. Turner." Both Percy and I say in unison. She grins at us.

"Come to pick up the kids?"

Inwardly, I wonder how she's always so happy and such.

"Yeah. I've got to get Brody back in time so he can get ready for bed." I say. Mrs. Turner nods.

"I'll call him for you, dear." She turns around swiftly and calls over her shoulder. "Oh, and I'll get darling Sophie for you as well!"

Percy grins at her retreating figure. "She's a cheerful woman, huh?"

I nod in agreement. "Yeah, she is. I kind of envy her for that." I blurt out.

Percy looks at me, but doesn't laugh. Instead he just shrugs and gives me a gentle smile. As if on cue, Brody charges right into me.

"Oof!" I gasp, wheezing. Wow, Annabeth, super attractive.

I see Percy trying to refrain from laughing like an idiot. I glare him. He no longer has to try, becoming quite serious in fact.

"Sorry." Both he and Brody say at the same time.

Brody looks at him curiously. "Who are you?"

"I'm Percy. Sophie's dad." Percy responds easily. Brody's eyes widen.

"Sophie?" He repeats. Percy nods, looking confused.

"Yeah, Sophie, why?"

Brody chews his lips. "She doesn't like me." He admits. Percy nods, but I can see him trying to smother his laughter.

"Oh, why?" He asks quizzically.

Brody shrugs helplessly. "I accidentally broke her color pencil."

Percy gasps, shock in his eyes. He's not acting. "What? Bad move, kid." Percy shakes his head. "Sophie loves her color pencils."

Brody reddens. "Yeah, I realized that after she yelled at me." Brody says, sighing. Percy nods and Sophie appears as if by magic.

"Hi, daddy!" Sophie says cheerily, throwing her small arms around Percy while beaming.

Percy grins down at his daughter and pats her back fondly. "Hey, Sophie."

Mrs. Turner appears and waves her farewell as the four of us walk away from the house to our separate cars.

"Well, goodbye." I say to Percy as both Brody and I stop at our car. I unlock it and watch Brody get settled into his car seat, pulling the seatbelt across him. I look at Sophie and smile at her. "See you, Sophie. It was nice meeting you."

"And you." Sophie responds simply, a radiant smile upon her face.

Percy speaks up, a little smirk playing on his lips. "Goodbye, Annabeth." I wave my hand at him. "For now." He adds.

I raise an eyebrow. "I'll be looking forward to it." I say, watching his smirk grow on his lips.

"So will I, Chase."

With a grin, I sit down in the driver's seat and wave goodbye as I start up the car.

Author's Note: So... How'd you like this chapter? Was it any good? I hope you don't find Percy and Annabeth _too_ OOC, but they are in an AU so they must have very different personalities than they were when they are Demigods.

Oh, and if you find the way that Brody talks weird - like how he breaks down his words and stuff, he's young, he'll learn more in the future I suppose xD

Once again, I want to thank the people who read the first chapter and gave me feedback by reviewing/following/favoriting :) It meant a lot to me to know that you wanted to see more of this!

Anonymous review reply:

Guest: :) I'm glad you enjoyed it! Here is the update! And if you read this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it as well! 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three - Bad News at Work

******Disclaimer - I don't own PJO or HoO, Rick Riordan does.**

**Thanks to IceLumos963, ****myfabulousity**, xxPurpleStarsxx, thunderman24, meriland25, PurpleConverseAnnabeth, emblah01, percy'shellokitty32, Fictionlover1996, blackjack1709, thestoryreader99, Hoii its TiffaNY, Angel5899, TheMaxIronGreekVoldySpyGames 08, MegJackson, hb15, naynay678, Colts12broncos18, PJOOF16, bubblelover302, Shandia99, Feearlesss, ForTheGloryOfSparta, BookReader10, peachtree3, MoB24, foreverfanfiction, sportschic5646, Niqueesinger14, PercyJackson is SeaweedBrain, DrewTheSeagull, alyaJackson, childofthegods0412, TailsDoll13 and Piperness!

**Summary - There were many ways Annabeth Chase imagined that she'd meet her soulmate. Spilling her coffee on him certainly wasn't the way. She also didn't expect her soulmate to be such an idiot - a Seaweed Brain, in fact. Neither did she expect her soulmate to have a daughter.**

* * *

"So, let me get this straight... When you were a kid and you used to watch movies where people died, you actually thought they killed off the actors?" I snickered at the thought, earning myself an annoyed look from Percy.

"Hey, I was young then! Plus, I was an idiot." He adds for effect. I look at him once more and burst out into laughter, earning annoyed and strange looks from the people around us in the diner. Yes, Percy and I were hanging out. He'd called me up after his work day had ended and asked if I'd wanted to catch dinner with him or something. When I'd asked about Sophie, he said that a friend was taking care of her at the moment and he had time to catch dinner with me. So, I had agreed, I could finish work afterwards anyways.

Yep, I was not going to admit that I was procrastinating, if you were wondering.

"And you think you're not an idiot now?" I shoot back, unable to hold my tongue. Percy glares at me.

"You are a pain in the butt, you know, Chase?" He sighs heavily and shakes his head at me, making me roll my eyes at him.

"As if you aren't?"

Percy opens his mouth to retort something, but no words come out, making me grin in triumph.

"You win this round, Chase." He snaps, leaning back in his seat and grumpily shoving food in his mouth with his spoon rather roughly.

I smirk cockily. "I _always_ win, Jackson. Surely you know that by now."

He just ignores me, while my smile grows at my triumph.

We eat in silence for a bit, my mind rushing with thoughts about the man sitting in front of me. I felt my neck beginning to redden as well as my cheeks when he glances over at me. He was making me feel strange, not violated or bad or anything, just making me feel different than usual.

To be honest, this feeling was new and I didn't know what it was, which annoyed me to no end. I, Annabeth Chase, cannot live without something like this hanging over my head. I looked over at him, I'd only felt something similar to this once before. I wince at the memory, feeling disgust and anger begin to rise inside of me.

"You okay?" Percy pipes up, concern obvious in his voice. I look over at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, of course, why do you ask?"

Percy narrows his eyes thoughtfully at me. "You winced when you looked at me." He chews his lower lip, his lovely green eyes beginning to cloud with thoughtfulness. Wait? Lovely? I gag at the thought, silently scolding myself.

"Oh. You just reminded me of someone." I admit, it's partly true at least. I wasn't lying to him or anything.

Percy looks at me hesitantly, "Is this... someone good? Or bad? You did wince." He reminds me.

I shake my head. "Doesn't matter, its in the past. I'm over it." I plaster a smile on my face, doing the best I can to look nonchalant. I've always been a decent actor, in my opinion. Percy looks at me, his expression unreadable.

"Alright." He mutters. I get the feeling that he doesn't exactly believe me. Then, he brightens up. "Do you want to do this again?" He questions, sounding nervous as well as eager. It reminds me of the first boy asking me out on a first date, the memory makes me turn a shade of magnificent shade of red. I manage to compose myself quickly, but Percy's smirking at me.

"Of course, Percy." I say, ignoring the annoying smirk on his lips.

Percy grins at me lopsidedly, making my stomach do flips. "An 'of course'? Glad to know you think that much of me, Chase."

I shrug in response, letting a smile tug at my lips.

"So, what have you been up to these last couple of days?" I ask, curious. Despite the fact that we've talked a lot tonight, I still haven't asked the question.

"Nothing really, my job's alright. Mostly the same." He shrugs.

"Mostly?"

Percy smiles at my question. "I love how you can pick something that little up from a conversation." He admits.

"Its normal." I respond, shrugging.

Percy rolls his eyes. "I never do something like that."

I grin, coming up with a great comeback. "Well, you aren't exactly normal are you?"

Percy blinks, then lets a smile fall onto his lips. "You rock, Chase."

I lean back on my chair, looking at him with amusement. "To be honest, I have a feeling that if we'd met each other when we were children or something, we'd be best friends." I admit, looking at Percy to see whether he'll agree or not.

Percy thinks about this for a couple of seconds before nodding in agreement, a cute little smile resting upon his lips. Stop it, I demand myself silently, he's your friend. Can't think stuff like that about him.

"I think so too." He agrees. Then he smiles at me a little goofily.

We finish up the rest of our dinner while talking and joking around with the other, and its making me feel happier than I've ever been in quite a long while.

When we leave, we walk towards the car park together. However, with each step I take, I realize its one more step closer away from Percy to home. The thought makes me slightly anxious. Okay... I know, that sounds needy but I can't help it! When I look over at Percy, I can tell instantly that he's noticed my slight nervousness.

"Whats up, Chase?"

"Nothing." I reply. Quick and fast, thats the key for no more questions. Well, in my book.

"If thats true, then I'm a demigod." Percy drawls.

Apparently not anymore.

However, Percy's line catches me slightly off guard. "Thats one of the _weirdest_ lines I've ever heard, Percy."

He gives me a dorky smile which I can't resist snickering at. The dorky smile fades instantly and is replaced with a scowl. "Chase, I'd think that it was actually one of the _best_ lines you've _ever_ heard."

I snort. "You wish, Percy."

"Seriously," Percy narrows his eyes and steps in front of me, blocking my path ahead. "What's up?"

"The sky," I roll my eyes at him sarcastically, "How can you not see that?"

Percy glares at me and steps towards me, invading my personal space. I try to concentrate on that intrusion besides the fact that my heart's racing faster than a bullet shooting through the air.

"Annabeth?" He uses my name and looks at me, his eyes dark with emotion. "We're friends, you'd tell me if something was wrong... Right?"

I bite my lip, beginning to get more annoyed than flustered. "Percy? I'm better now, alright? I think you're making a big deal out of nothing."

Percy looks at me, totally poker faced. It annoys me. I can usually read him like an open book, but at times like this, when all you can see is nothing in his face, I get extremely frustrated. I hate not knowing whats going on in his tiny brain. I hate not knowing, to be honest.

"You were nervous before, why?"

I shrug. "I don't know, alright?"

He purses his lips and gives me a once-over, not the sort of once-over guys give girls when they wear skimpy bikinis, but more of an intrigued once-over. Finally, he speaks. "Okay." He steps aside so I can now continue on my straight path ahead. I finally reach my car and I unlock it with my keys.

I turn to Percy and force a smile onto my face. "Good night, Percy."

He looks at me, his gaze darting around my face searchingly. "Sorry about earlier, Annabeth, I didn't mean to, you know... Pry? Is that the word?"

I restrain my urge to laugh. It wouldn't be very appropriate at the time. "Yeah, thats the word."

Percy nods. "I'm sorry, Annabeth, I didn't mean to pry. I was just worried."

"Why?" Escapes my lips.

"Because you're my friend, Chase." Percy grins at me cheekily. "Wouldn't you be worried about me?"

Inwardly, I nod. Outwards, I look at him with a blank stare. "I suppose."

Percy chews his lower lip and I watch his eyes flicker around the parking lot. "Uh, well, see you, Annabeth. I'll call you?"

"You'll call me." I agree. Percy grins at me and suddenly pulls me into a hug. I blink, startled. After I regain my senses, I feel my neck begin to redden as well as my cheeks. Not for the first time that night. I hope with all the hope I can muster that Percy can't hear or feel the loud thundering of my heart. Personally, I'm worried about how fast its beating.

I pat his back awkwardly and I hear Percy chuckle next to my ear, the simple sound making me tense slightly.

He pulls back and our eyes meet, his green ones molding into my grey ones. "Good night, Chase." He murmurs softly, releasing me from my grip and taking a couple of steps back. I almost wrap my arms around myself at the sudden loss of warmth.

"Good night." I respond, coming back to the present. I wave to him as I get into my car and start up the engine. I see him waving as I drive out of the parking lot and back to home, the sight makes me grin.

* * *

I stare down at my work. For the first time in quite a long time, and I do mean a _long_ time, I am bored of my work.

Okay, that sounds a little cruel, but its the truth. I love architecture, I really do. At the moment, however, working on blueprints of new buildings is probably the most boring thing to do. I groan and bang my head on my desk.

"Anna - Ms. Chase?"

I shoot up straight in my chair immediately at the sound of my boss's voice. My mother's voice, in fact. She tells me that the two of us must be professional during our work hours. I meet her gaze and see disapproval clear in her eyes.

"Is there a reason you were just banging your head on your desk instead of working on the blueprints?" She questions dryly, sounding frustrated.

I clear my throat and respond, "Sorry, I'll get right back to work. Is there something you need?" I look up at her politely.

Ugh, all this formality is disgusting me. This is my _mother_, for goodness sakes.

She nods, her lips pursed. "We have a new addition to the firm."

I blink, I didn't hear of that news. "Oh?"

My mother pinches the bridge of her nose, I can practically sense her annoyance and disapproval. I know something's wrong but I won't push it. Not right now. "I don't know why he was employed, but according to Charles, the resume of the employee was simply amazing."

"Okay?" I still don't get why she's so annoyed. Not yet, at least.

My mother sighs and looks at me, I can see a hint of regret in her eyes. "Our new employee is Luke Castellan, Annabeth. Sorry. He'll be your new partner."

I gape at her. Luke? "Luke?" I whisper shakily, dread filling me. "The Luke I - da - dated?" I swallow roughly at the memory.

She nods, her lips in a thin line. "We can't just fire him, Annabeth. That wouldn't be fair." She looks at me, sternly. "You need to be professional, don't let the past get to you."

"Why is he my partner?" Is all I can say. Him and I. Working together in the same office. What could be worse? "I don't need a partner."

My mother shrugs. "Charles thought it would be nice for you to have some company. You work on a lot of things, and he thought that having somebody to work with would make it easier on you."

I groan. Charles was basically my mother's partner in the business. He was a nice man, but sometimes he cared too much about the workers. Like me. He thought that I was the daughter he never had, which sort of annoyed me. I didn't let it get to me, though.

"Mother," I ignore her pointed look, "How long will this arrangement... last?"

She raises an eyebrow. "As long until either of you quits. Or gets fired." She says simply. "His desk will be moved into here tomorrow, the two of you will start working tomorrow as well. Be on time."

With that, she leaves the room. I stare at the shut door, feeling all my anger and frustration and desperation bubbling up inside of me, threatening to spill.

"UGH!" I scream, not caring if anyone heard. I swear loudly as I stand up, kicking my chair over onto the ground. I hear a loud thud. I pace the room, stomping back and forth furiously. Luke? Why him? I hoped that this was all a dream, I never wanted to see that... that _beast_ ever again! I swallow roughly, feeling tears brim my eyes. He betrayed me. My trust, everything I gave to him.

* * *

"So, how was your day?"

Percy and I were sitting in the cafe where we'd first met. He'd called me a while after my work day had ended and suggested that we'd meet up here.

I glower at my coffee cup darkly and I hear Percy let out a nervous chuckle.

"Ah... Not very good, huh?"

I can't help but laugh dryly. "However could you tell?"

Percy shrugs, his eyes riveted on me. "Just by the way your all tensed up and stuff. Also, you're staring at that poor innocent cup of coffee in front of you as if you want to obliterate it. I'm sure its done nothing bad to you."

"Obliterate? You've been studying your vocabulary, I see."

I can practically see Percy rolling his eyes in my mind.

"You know," Percy says slowly, "You look like you could really use a massage."

I snort. "A massage?"

"To help you relax."

I look up at Percy, forcing all my anger away. "Percy," I begin slowly, "Can I trust you?"

Percy's eyebrows knit together. He looks at me cautiously. "Chase..." He begins, "Its your decision, you know? I can't tell you to trust me or not. You should know whether or not."

I look at him, memorizing his face. This is Percy Jackson, a guy I've met only about a week ago. Yet he knew a lot about me. Heck, he knew me a lot better than my own mother. But... I didn't know if I could trust him the way I'd trusted Luke.

"What happened at work, today?" He asks cautiously, his eyes filled with concern.

I can't hold it in anymore. "My ex-boyfriend is back here and he was employed at my firm and now I've got to work with him!" I blurt out, my eyes wild.

Percy looks startled. Just plain startled. "Oh."

"Yeah." I mutter.

"I"m assuming this ex-boyfriend wasn't good to you?" Percy's voice is quiet, but I hear the tinge of fury in his words. I look at him and see anger glinting in his eyes.

I don't respond. The silence is somehow all that Percy needs for my answer.

Percy gently takes my hand in his once more and I start at the sudden warmth. My heart begins speeding up from its normal beat and my cheeks begin to turn red. "Annabeth..." He trails off uncertainly, his eyes becoming unfocused. Then, he grips my hand, finding the words he wants to say. "I won't hurt you."

"I hope you won't." Is all I can say. Percy looks at me firmly.

"I promise I won't."

I smile slightly. "I don't really want to talk about this anymore, is that alright?"

He nods. "One more question though... May I?"

"Sure."

"How bad did he hurt you?"

I feel tears rise up once more, but I blink them away. It doesn't go unnoticed by Percy, I can tell, but he doesn't call me on it. "Really bad." I choke out.

Percy then leans back in his seat, but doesn't release his grip on my hand. "If he treats you like dog poop... Just let me know, okay?"

Percy didn't exactly say dog poop, but I couldn't help but smile a little. "Watch your language, Percy."

He rolls his eyes at me, then looks at me seriously. "Really though, tell me."

I nod. "Sure."

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry about the delay, guys :( I've been busy, so when I had nothing to do I worked on this. Sorry if Annabeth's mother seems a little OOC. Also, Annabeth does have a stepmom and stuff. Her real mother just got her a job at the firm so yeah.**

**Soooo... Luke is coming back, huh? He'll be a major character in my fanfic, I think. I'll try not to make him look like a total jerk, and make him sort of relatable in some aspects. Or maybe not. Guess you'll have to see. :p**

**I hope you enjoyed, guys :) Favorite if you really like it, follow if you want to see more, and review if you want to let me know what you think and what to improve on! Next chapter I'll introduce Luke and I'll show why Annabeth no longer trusts him.**

** Thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four - Welcome back, Luke Castellan

**Disclaimer - I don't own PJO or HoO, Rick Riordan does.**

**Thanks to PureAwesummness101, ChrysosArgentum, Summer Skye 2012, It's Mellarkable, BlueWonders, allen r, ImmaNerd98, RedNebulosity, Elia19, wildcat21ish, Andromeda Luna, xNeonDiamondx, Paveko, ShineForMe8012, Alla-17, Pauls-Blowfish, LongLiveLaughter, SailorMoonAddict, . .GamexX, la bella nunez, everett2, alyajackson, MosaicOfBrokenHearts13, Shandia99, PercyJackson is SeaweedBrain, foreverfanfiction, Piperness, Codex (Guest), greekgodsaresupersuperawesome, seaweedbrain735, bookhugs, August1999, iampercyjackson'swife, bookslover1994, ChildOfSea, and all the other guests! :)**

**Anonymous review replies: **

**1st guest that reviewed: Thanks, I'm glad you think so! **

**Codex: I'm glad you think its good :) **

**3rd guest that reviewed: Sure :D I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter if you did!**

**Summary - There were many ways Annabeth Chase imagined that she'd meet her soulmate. Spilling her coffee on him certainly wasn't the way. She also didn't expect her soulmate to be such an idiot - a Seaweed Brain, in fact. Neither did she expect her soulmate to have a daughter.**

* * *

Dread pouring off of me in waves, I take a deep breath and open the door. I would do anything right now to sink and melt into the ground, because right there, sitting in a desk of his own, next to mine, is Luke Castellan.

When he looks up at me, his eyes suddenly become intense. The blue shade of them turning darker and darker as he takes in my appearance. Then, a small smile appears on his lips. I look at him, my expression giving nothing away. On the inside, though, I'm screaming for help, which isn't like me.

"Hello." I say curtly, taking my seat. I feel his eyes follow me as I sit down. I try not to sweat as he stares at me openly.

"Long time no see, Annabeth." His voice is still the same as it was all those years ago. Yet, it seems more hoarse and tired. "Nice to see you again."

"Is it really?" I can't help but retort.

Luke swallows roughly and I turn to look at him. "I've changed, Annabeth." He says softly. "I was an idiot back then, and if I could do something - _anything_ - I would change what had happened back then."

I look at him, my eyes narrowing. "Well, you can't."

Luke sighs and swirls in his chair so he's facing me. He shrugs helplessly. "You know why I came back here and applied for this job?"

I purse my lips, knowing where he's going with all of this.

"Its because I wanted to see you again. I want to fix things with you."

"Well, you can't!" I snap angrily, feeling anger consume me. "So you might as well quit this job or something, because nothing is ever going to happen between us again! We won't ever be friends! _Ever_." I seethe furiously. In my anger, I've stood up from my chair and is now hovering over Luke. His blue eyes blink in obvious surprise. I lean back, looking down at him. "Do you understand?"

Luke swallows roughly and I watch him compose himself visibly. I see something spark in his weary eyes and looks back up at me. "Annabeth, I know saying sorry won't change the past. I just want to be your friend again, if you'll let me. I promise I won't screw up again, alright?" Then a little smile appears on his lips once more. "Besides, you know me, right?"

"I thought I did." I mutter to myself, too quiet for Luke to catch.

"I'm not one to give up." Luke finishes, looking at me calmly.

I roll my eyes inwardly. "Lets just get to work, alright?" I ask dryly, spinning back to my desk and immersing myself with my work. I hear Luke sigh softly at my side, but I ignore him.

The two of us work in silence, until the door of the office opens and two people walk in.

"Hi!" That was Charles.

"Hello." My mother said coolly, her eyes narrowing as she took in Luke's appearance in my office.

"So, how are you two going so far? Working well? Playing nice?" Charles adds the last part looking over at me, raising an eyebrow. He looks amused, however the rest of us aren't.

"Yes. Annabeth's been really kind to me on my first day." Luke says, breaking the silence that falls between the four of us. His tone is forced though, the look that Charles shoots me shows that he can sense it as well.

"Thats good." My mother says simply, her eyes flashing dangerously as she looks at Luke. I see Luke squirm in his seat uncomfortably under her stare. Charles now looks utterly confused.

"We're glad to have you here, Mr. Castellan." Charles says, thrusting out his hand to Luke. Luke takes his hand and shakes it firmly.

"Glad to be here as well."

Charles grins and Luke releases his hand.

"Have a good first day here at work, Mr. Castellan." Charles says, waving goodbye to the two of us. "You have a good work day as well, Ms. Chase!" He beckons for my mother to leave alongside him but she returns his gaze with a simple stare gesturing for him to continue on. Charles sends her a confused look but adjusts his expression when he turns back to Luke and I, giving us a encouraging grin. Then he leaves, shutting the door softly behind him as he exits.

My mother just continues standing there, her eyes on Luke.

When we can no longer hear Charles's footsteps heading away from the office, she begins walking towards Luke, her nostrils flaring dangerously.

"What are you doing back here, Mr. Castellan?" She demands.

Luke chews his lower lip, his eyes darting around the room. Finally, he sighs in defeat and looks up at her.

"I'm sorry, but I really wanted this job." He mutters.

My mother rolls her eyes in disbelief. "Please. Don't lie."

Luke purses his lips. "I won't hurt Annabeth again, alright?" He snaps, slamming his hands on his desk and standing up. Anger is taut in every feature of his face.

My mother blinks, angry. "I think you shouldn't be here, anyway! Why'd you come back? To get her forgiveness? To get her to _love_ you again? What are you an idiot? Do you _think_ my daughter is actually that _stupid_? She won't want anything to do with you ever again! Not after you took her heart and stomped all over it!" My mother seethes.

Luke sets his jaw furiously. "I didn't _ask_ to be her _partner_! Charles made me, alright? I didn't anticipate having to work with her! I admit that I came back here for her - Annabeth - but I just wanted to be friends with her again! Now, though, I'm thinking its not such a good idea after getting this lovely welcome ceremony!" Luke roars, his face turning red with fury.

My mother stares at him, anger glinting in her eyes. Luke doesn't stand though, instead he glowers right back at her. I speak up, getting fed up with the way they are arguing about me as if I was even in the room with them,

"Mother, will you leave us?" I pipe up, my tone cautious and weary. She shoots me a look and I watch her eyes flash warning to Luke before turning around and stomping out. I take a deep breath and watch the door slam shut behind her. My mother hardly ever loses her cool, she rarely does, in fact. These happened to be one of the rare times. I look over at Luke, he returns my gaze.

"No one wants me here, huh?" He says softly, but his annoyance seeping into his voice.

I swallow. "Just my mother and I." I clarify. I watch Luke's eyes darken.

"Annabeth, what can I do to get you to trust me again?" Luke asks desperately.

Percy's words of yesterday popped into my mind as I thought about it. "You can't. You can try though." I say simply. My eyes narrow as I look at him. "I doubt I'll ever be able to trust you again, Luke."

Luke looks at me guiltily, but I see a spark of hope flash in his eyes. "Lets just get through the work day without arguing again, deal?"

I nod tightly. "Deal."

* * *

"So, how was your day?" Percy asks, I can hear the concern in his voice even through my phone. I smile at the thought of him. I can even picture him holding his phone to his ear, waiting worriedly for my answer.

He called me right after I'd left the building, it was funny how he knew what time my work ended even though I'd only told him once, plus, he does tend to forget a lot. It kind of made me feel happy that he did remember.

"It was..." I try and find the right word. "Interesting."

"Interesting? Good or bad interesting?" Percy demands, sort of reminding me of the popular girls in high school gossiping.

"You know... Interesting." I offer weakly. Percy sighs.

"Meet me at the cafe in ten minutes, alright? I want to know _everything_!" Percy orders. "Catch you there!" I can even hear the slight smile in his voice right before he hangs up.

I smile. He was definitely reminding me of gossipy high school populars.

* * *

"So, Luke Castellan, your ex-boyfriend, is back and he wants you to give him a second chance." Percy sums up.

I nod in affirmative. "Exactly."

Percy looks at me, his eyes clouding with thought. I have a feeling that he's trying to remember something. My suspicion turns out to be correct when he voices his thoughts. "Luke Castellan... The name sounds familiar."

I resist the urge to roll my eyes. "Well, I've just said it barely a few minutes ago."

Percy turns a bit red. "No, no, I don't mean that! I just mean... It sounds familiar. I remember someone mentioning the name when I was around during my high school years." Percy admits.

I look at him curiously. "What was your high school's name?"

"Public high school in Manhattan." Percy says.

"Luke used to live in Manhattan for a while before moving to California." I remember. "Maybe one of your friends had met him." I offer.

Percy shrugs. "Maybe, maybe not." He purses his lips and I watch him regain his focus. "So, what are you going to do?"

I sigh. "I don't know."

"Thats a first." Percy cuts in, I can hear a little smirk in his tone. I look at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Shut up." I can't help but say. Percy chuckles at me and I throw him a glare that shuts him up pretty fast.

"Okay. Sorry."

I force myself not to smile. I like how I can simply control Percy with only a few looks, most of them glares. "I'm just wary about being friends with him again. Not after I've gave him everything I had back then. Did you know that I didn't have a life during the time we dated? My grades went down and I stopped hanging so much with my friends. I was there whenever Luke need me, I was ready to give him anything when he wanted it. I was like the butter to his bread. His up to his down. His icing to his cake. His bacon to his eggs. His hammer to his nail. His pen to his paper. His socks to his shoes. His milk to his cereal. His chair to his table. His eraser to his pencil. His -"

"Ah! Stop!" Percy yelps, his hands slamming to his ears, covering them. I snap my mouth shut, feeling a little embarrassed. "So much... Too much to handle!"

I sigh. "Sorry. But thats it. Thats what my life was like when I was with him."

He gives me a strange look. "So, you ditched your friends to be with Luke?"

I swallow. "I'm not proud of it, but yes, I did."

Percy purses his lips. "You put your life on hold when you were with him, huh?"

I nod. "Yes. I wish that I didn't. That was a waste of five months, now that I think about it."

Percy nods. "Well, you can't go back to change it now. You just got to go forward and not make the same mistakes. You know, find a guy that won't hold you down. A guy that won't stop you from reaching your dreams."

I think about it, but no man comes to mind. Except for one, Percy. I look at him sitting in front of me, rambling on about a guy who'd fit me.

"I think I'd like a guy who was my exact opposite." I blurt out unexpectedly. Percy looks startled and cuts off in his speech.

"What? Wouldn't you want a guy exactly like you? You know, a guy that understands you and can suit your needs." Percy sounds extremely confused. "Someone who matches you?"

I shrug. "I don't know. Doesn't every yin need a yang? Or vice versa?"

Percy blinks and then a grin falls onto his face. "You're so cheesy, Chase."

I can't help but shoot him an annoyed look, "Shut up." This time, his grin doesn't fade, but widens instead.

"You know what... I definitely can't see you as butter. Way too fierce and feisty." Percy chortles.

I sigh inwardly and I momentarily picture myself stabbing my eyes with forks. Ouch. I wince inwardly as that mental image enters my mind.

Percy becomes serious. "Do you think you could trust Luke again?"

"I don't think so." I say honestly. "He's not the same."

Percy looks at me. "What did he do to you exactly?"

I feel sick and I fight the urge to throw up, because you know, the aftermath would be... weird. "He cheated." I force the words up my throat and through my mouth. Percy blinks and I see him set his jaw and I see a spark of anger begin flashing in his green eyes.

"What?" His tone is angry. "Why would he -?"

"I don't know!" I snap, feeling my anger beginning to course through me as well. "Maybe giving him my all wasn't good enough for him!"

Percy takes a breath and I see him relax visibly, but I can still see the tenseness in his body. "He doesn't deserve you, then."

"I know."

"Don't trust him." Percy demands, his eyes flashing dangerously.

I look at him, taking in his appearance. He could certainly play the over-protective father or boyfriend. Or husband. I shake those thoughts out of my mind, realizing Percy's still waiting for my answer.

"I know." Is all I say.

* * *

**Author's Note: Ugh, this chapter was extremely crappy, I know :( I stayed up all night writing it, because I felt like the argument between Luke/Annabeth and Luke/Annabeth's Mom was horrible. As for Luke, I hope I don't seem to bias while writing him, I mean, I don't hate him, but I don't love him either. Hm... Next chapter I'll introduce Percy's ex-wife, guess who it is?**

**So! How was your April Fool's day? I got quite a lot of surprises and pranks xD It was fun :)**

**Except for a couple of people, their jokes weren't so funny. I mean... One of them was joking that their mom was dead and then they were like "April Fool's!" My gosh, that wasn't funny at all -.- It was sick. Sorry, I just didn't find it that funny, I found it a horrible joke.**

**Ah, so... Who heard that there's going to be a Finding Nemo 2?! Finding Dory! :o I love Finding Nemo, really, I hope so hard that Pixar doesn't screw up Finding Dory :/ **

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter in the end! Review if you'd like to and tell me how I'm doing, favorite if you really enjoyed, and follow if you want to see more! :) Thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five - Meeting Her

**Disclaimer - I don't own PJO or HoO, Rick Riordan does.**

**Thanks to ChrysosArgentum, alyaJackson, RedNebulosity, Die hard fan (Guest), MosaicOfBrokenHearts13, August1999, everett2, No name (Guest), PercyJackson is SeaweedBrain, Codex (Guest), Elia19, Genaegis, mhalopoff, Elizabeth B-Lover, KatieChee01, kim3375, teampeeta07, Raidersforthewin, Random Reader 14, IcyRose66, Mack333, aquakeyblade13, sellyfan12, allen r, Piperness, Andromeda Luna (Guest), Love-and-Luck-are-Lies and bookslover1994!**

******Anonymous review replies:**

**Die hard fan - Thanks :) I'm glad you enjoyed last chapter! I'll try to do my best with the later ones.**

**No name - I'm glad you liked it! I explain Luke in the author's note down below :) If you read this chapter, I hope you enjoy as well.**

**Codex - Thanks! I hope you enjoy this chapter also.**

**Andromeda Luna - Hahaha, I agree, Percy was quite hot ;-D I'm glad you liked it :)**

**Summary - There were many ways Annabeth Chase imagined that she'd meet her soulmate. Spilling her coffee on him certainly wasn't the way. She also didn't expect her soulmate to be such an idiot - a Seaweed Brain, in fact. Neither did she expect her soulmate to have a daughter.**

* * *

Sophie tugs at my sleeve, trying to capture my attention. Percy's eyes sparkle as they look down at Sophie and jump back to me. I can tell he's enjoying the fact that Sophie and I are getting along well. I'm glad that Sophie likes me, she's sweet and fun.

"I'm happy you are eating dinner with us tonight, Annabeth." Sophie admits when I look over at her. I grin easily at her, plopping some macaroni down on my plate. I was surprised at first when Percy asked me over for dinner, I wasn't even aware he could cook. Secretly, a tiny part of me wondered if he was trying to poison me.

"I'm happy, too."

Sophie smiles and looks over at Percy. "Daddy, where did you and Annabeth meet?" She asks politely, her eyes gleaming with the anticipation of listening to a story, however short it may be.

Percy and I exchange glances and I can't help but let a small smirk play on my lips as I remember that little scenario.

"Well..." Percy begins, scooping up some macaroni onto Sophie's plate, "Annabeth was lost and she needed directions." He lies, ignoring my pointed look.

"No, I wasn't." I retort. Percy shoots me an annoyed look.

"Yes, you were."

"No, I wasn't!"

Percy sighs and shakes his head at me, tutting childishly. "Stop lying, Annabeth."

I glare daggers at him. Percy smirks instead of cowering like a little baby. _Whoa_. He's changed. Sophie is just looking between the two of us, confusion apparent on her face.

I begin thinking of rather intricate and nasty ways to kill Percy Jackson as his smirk widens.

Sophie blinks, still confused.

"Um..." She pipes up, looking between the two of us, her eyes questioning. Then, she chews her lower lip and looks over at me. "How is Brody?" She asks unexpectedly.

I stare at her, momentarily rendered thoughtless. Out of all the questions I'd thought she'd asked, that question wasn't even on the _list_. "He's fine." Is all I can think of to say. Sophie raises an eyebrow in a way that reminds me of Percy so much that it makes me gape at her like an idiot.

"What?" Sophie laughs at my expression, her laugh high pitched and cheerful, her eyes shining as she looks at me.

"I just wasn't expecting that question." I admit. Sophie stares at me, looking extremely shocked. I can't help but let a small smile tug at my lips as I look at her. "What?" I repeat her last question.

"But - But Daddy said you knew _everything_!" Sophie exclaims. I blink, stunned silent for the moment. She glances over at her father. Percy shrugs as he scarfs down his macaroni, looking rather goofy with some macaroni falling from his mouth as he does so.

"He said I knew _everything_?" I say, sneaking a look at Percy, who is turning a light shade of red. "So he admits defeat..." I add quietly, feeling a triumphant smirk beginning to form on my lips.

"Yes he did! Sometimes he said that you make him feel like a fool!" Sophie announces, grinning. I can't resist the grin appearing on my lips as well.

"A _fool_?" I repeat, my grin widening as I look over at Percy, who is now completely red.

"Be _quiet_, Chase." Percy mumbles from across the table, just loud enough for me - and only me - to hear. I just roll my eyes in response.

"Daddy, why don't you date her?" Sophie questions innocently. However, Percy spits out his macaroni onto his plate and I watch it land in a gooey pile, as I myself start choking on my own macaroni stuffed inside my mouth.

"S - Sorry?" Percy wipes his mouth with his napkin, his eyes widening with surprise. Our gazes meet and he mouths an apology. I don't laugh, on the other hand, I'm turning dark red without my permission.

"I like Annabeth." Sophie says simply, her eyes pleading as she looks at Percy, who's turning as tomato red as I am. "You like her too! So why don't you date her?" Some emotion lights up in her eyes. "And then you can _marry_ her!" She squeals, her gaze darting between Percy and I.

Percy looks like he's fighting the urge to vomit up the rest of his dinner. I'm pretty sure that I look pretty similar. "When did you hear about... _dating_?" Percy demands, his voice hoarse.

Sophie rolls her eyes, sticking out her tongue. That image makes me forget about my current situation and makes me grin and think of how cute she looks while doing that. "I'm not a _child_, Daddy. I hear about dating!" She crosses her arms, looking rather adultlike before she bursts out into laughter, ruining the act.

"Where?" Percy looks confused. "I didn't hear about dating at your age!"

Sophie blinks, stunned. "Really? So much of my classmates are dating!" She exclaims, rather conversationally. Percy and I exchange bemused looks, before Percy asks Sophie whether she has a boyfriend.

"What? No! Boys are... _Gross_!" Sophie squeaks, sounding rather offended at the mere thought of her with a boy. I can't help but smile at little Sophie. She really was quite something.

"Oh... Oh. Good." Percy says simply, looking rather pleased with her answer. I shoot him a look and he returns my gaze with a cheeky grin.

The rest of dinner passes with jokes and conversation. Sophie Jackson is probably the sweetest little girl I've ever met, and seeing Percy around his daughter is quite different than seeing him without his daughter. With his daughter around, Percy is extremely responsible. Its pretty different than seeing him just around me alone. If I was in someone else's place, I'd think that it was sort of... You know, _hot_.

Sophie, Percy, and I ended up watching The Lion King by Disney, which was Sophie's favorite movie. Sophie kept singing along to all the songs and kept trying to get Percy and I to sing along as well. I refused every time but Percy eventually succumbed to his daughter's wishes. However, when he joined in he sounded like an offspring between a mule _and_ a cat that was _dying_. As you can probably tell, that isn't the greatest sound to hear.

* * *

"I had a good time." I say to Percy honestly as I gather up my stuff, ready to leave the apartment. Sophie was already tucked in bed and it was about 8 in the night, so it was pretty much time for me to return to my own apartment.

"I'm glad you did." Percy replied easily, wrapping me up in a hug without my permission. I resist the urge to pull away, I'm not one to be in close contact. Rather admirably, in my opinion, I force myself to endure the hug to not seem rude. However, Percy can seem to sense my reluctance and releases me quickly afterwards. I almost hug myself tightly at the sudden loss of warmth, and I try to ignore the fact that I seem to be missing Percy's arms around me.

"It was nice getting to see both you and Sophie." I admit, breaking the small silence.

"I was happy that you decided to meet her. And, you know, spend time with _me_." Percy states, smiling softly. I can't help grin.

"Getting cocky, huh?" I ask, as Percy begins turning the knob of the door. Percy opens his mouth to speak but standing right in front of him is a raised fist. And a woman.

"Rachel?" Percy squeaks, his surprise is written all over his face. "What are you doing here?"

'Rachel' looks between the two of us, her eyes darting curiously. "When I was babysitting Sophie a couple of days ago, I'd left my purse." She explains. She turns to me, lowering her raised fist. "I was just about to knock, sorry." A sheepish look crosses her expression, "I'm Rachel Dare, and you?"

"Annabeth Chase." I respond, feeling my throat tighten. This is Percy's ex-wife, huh? She's gorgeous. And its true. Rachel Dare has warm, fiery red hair, with freckles splayed perfectly across her face, her skin is pale, but not too pasty, and has bright green eyes.

Percy looks between the two of us and I see him step back for Rachel to enter. "Annabeth, this is Rachel Dare. My former wife." He explains sounding rather awkward, however, he does confirm my suspicion, even if it was unintentional. Rachel looks a little amused as she walks into the apartment to retrieve her purse. "Rachel, this is Annabeth, my friend." Percy says.

"Its nice to meet you." Rachel spins around quickly to flash me a quick and easy smile. However, my mind is running with thoughts after hearing Rachel's name from the very beginning. It seemed so... familiar. I was sure I'd heard it from someone in passing when I was in high school a week or so before I'd found about Luke. I had very good memory, and the fact that I couldn't place Rachel Dare was becoming increasingly frustrating.

"Nice to meet you, too." I say when Percy nudges me in the side. I realize that I've probably been staring like an idiot into the air instead of responding to Rachel.

Rachel lets out a small laugh and she finally finds her purse, which was lying next to Percy's phone on the kitchen counter. "So, how did you and Percy meet?"

"Met in a cafe."

"She was looking for directions."

Percy and I exchange looks, his a sheepish one, mine a glare. Rachel walks towards us, her eyebrows raising in amusement. I see a glint of humor in her green eyes.

"What's the real story?" Rachel inquires, her tone amused, looking at the two of us.

"Cafe." I say quickly before Percy can speak. "My coffee spilled on him."

Percy turns extremely bright red as Rachel begins snickering. "I can totally see that happening!"

Percy scowls at me and playfully, yet softly, punches me in the shoulder. Rachel gently pats Percy's cheek gently, "You were always so clumsy."

That small little display of affection makes my stomach clench uncomfortably, seeing Rachel do that and Percy not refuse makes me feel quite sick. Percy grins a little goofily at the touch, but when our eyes meet I see his expression become an embarrassed one.

"I've got to go." I mutter, sounding quite rude and annoyed. I mentally slap myself for sounding like a jealous jerk. "I'd like to get some sleep." I force a smile and wave a goodbye to both Percy and Rachel as I step out into the hallway.

"Oh." I see a look of disappointment cross Percy's face.

"What? Missing me already?" I can't help but add jokingly. Percy's eyes become slightly darker.

"Of course." He chuckles. "Goodnight, Chase."

"Night." This time, I smile genuinely. "Nice meeting you, Rachel."

"Same here!" Rachel says as I begin walking down the hallway, to the elevator, and out of Percy's building. My mind was swirling with thoughts of Percy and Rachel. They were still good friends, Percy had told me that ages ago, but the thought of them being so... intimate with each other sickened me. I don't know why, but it felt so wrong.

Okay. I knew why. I was _jealous_. Of Rachel. My phone started ringing suddenly, which startled me. I quickly answered.

"Annabeth." I said shortly. "And this is?"

I hear someone give a weak laugh. "Hey... Its me, Percy!"

I feel a smile beginning to spread across my face. "Oh, hey, Percy."

"You're probably asking why I'm calling... I mean, it hasn't even been five minutes, huh?" I hear Percy pause and I wait for him to continue, patiently waiting. "Do you have a ride back to your place?"

I didn't. I'd walked to work, and I hadn't known that Percy would've invited me to have dinner with Sophie and him. Now that I thought about it, it was a mere thirty minute walk from here to home. "No, I don't."

"Alright. Where are you?" Percy asks. I sigh inwardly, knowing that he's coming to fetch me.

"Percy, you don't have to." I protest weakly.

Percy immediately starts refusing. "No, no, its no big dea-"

"Sophie?" I question lightly. I hear Percy mutter a quiet 'Oh' on the other end of the phone, the sound of it makes me smile. "Listen, I'll be alright. I can walk back home. Its not that far." I lie.

Percy sighs, and I know that he's seen through my bluff. "Its a thirty minute walk back there, Annabeth. You told me where you lived before, right? I'm not that stupid. Not when it comes to you." He adds as an afterthought. That simple line makes me turn bright red, and I try to calm down my growing blush as I continue walking.

"Percy, its okay. I'll be fine."

"Annabeth..." I know that he wants to help, and it warms my heart.

"Seriously, Jackson. I'll be fine."

"... Fine." Percy gives up and it makes me smile. "You win this round, Chase." He says warningly.

"I always win." I can't help but say. Percy snorts.

"Call me when you get back home, Chase?"

"Sure." I agree.

I can practically picture Percy grinning as he speaks, "Cool. Call me."

Both Percy and I take deep breaths, I can hear Percy's massive intake of air from the other end, and I'm sure he can hear mine as well. "Bye." The two of us say as both Percy and I hang up.

I place my phone back in my purse and continue walking, but after a couple of minutes, I realize that a car is trailing slowly behind me by some distance. I narrow my eyes as I look back at it, speeding up my pace. I force myself to look ahead and try to calm down my nerves, however trying to calm them just makes me even more anxious and worried. I have a sudden urge to call Percy and get him to leave Sophie back at the apartment to come fetch me, but I force that compelling thought out of my mind. Its probably nothing, I tell myself. Maybe the driver is short-sighted or something. Maybe he can't see well in the dark. He's not following me.

However, those ideas are shot down instantly when the car pulls up beside me. A window opens up and I force myself to look into the car. My jaw drops.

"_Luke_?" I squeak.

"Hi, Annabeth." Luke sends me a dimpled smile that I remember from our time together during high school.

I glare at him. "Do you have any idea how bad that scared me?"

A look of guilt passes on his face. "Sorry. I was deciding whether or not to talk to you." Luke explains honestly. I sigh, blowing my curls out of my eyes in annoyance.

"Why don't you go home?" I can't help but ask. Luke's face takes on the expression of a kicked puppy, and that simple look makes my heart stop guiltily.

"I'm on my way home right now. I just saw you... So, um... Do you want a ride?" Luke asks nervously.

I think about it. It would be kind of stupid to refuse. I look at him. "Where do you live? I don't want to give you much of a hassle."

I see a flash of hope spark in his eyes. Luke answers me and I discover that he doesn't live that much farther than where I live. I come to a decision, as it would be foolish to decline. "Okay, sure." I give him my address and he responds with a grin and opens up the passenger door.

I get in and buckle my seatbelt, feeling nervousness build up in me once more. Luke throws me a sideways glance as he begins driving once more.

"I'm not going to kill you, you know?" Luke says, raising an eyebrow at me. I roll my eyes at him and I hear him chuckle lightly. "Well, there's no need for you to be all tense and stuff. We are working together, we should be able to get along decently as well."

"Fine." I can't help but snap in response. "Lets be professional."

Luke sighs. "Fine."

"So, how's work so far?" I question. "I mean, are you enjoying it so far?"

"Well... _Most_ of the people at work are nice. Some need to chill though." Luke offers, avoiding my gaze. I glare at him. Luke quickly continues, "I've been working on some new blueprints as well."

"New blueprints? I didn't hear of that yet."

Luke nods. "You probably haven't. Charles gave me some new blueprints to work on, we're going to be constructing a new building for the firm. It was during when you were out on break, so I didn't have a chance to tell you yet." He explains.

"Oh, I see."

"I'll show you them on Monday."

"Right... No work tomorrow."

"Yep, its a Saturday." I hear a small smile in Luke's voice. "So what were you doing out there?" Luke asks, giving me a quizzical look.

"I was having dinner at a friend's." I say simply.

"Anyone I would know?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Oh. Okay. What's the name?"

"Percy."

"Percy... Who?"

"Percy Jackson. He's my friend."

"Oh."

"Yeah..."

An awkward silence stretches between us, and I squirm in my seat uncomfortably.

"You like him." Luke says softly, yet his voice is firm. I blink, surprised.

"Excuse me?" I turn in my seat to look at him. "What makes you say that?" I demand, feeling heat rush to my cheeks. I see a small smirk begin to form on his lips, I resist the urge to glare at him once more.

"Just the way you said his name."

"Well... Of course I like him. He's my friend."

Luke throws me a dry look. "_Seriously_, Annabeth?" He shakes his head, tutting like a teacher scolding a mischievous child.

I don't bother speaking to him again, settling for glaring out the window.

"When can I meet him?" Luke asks, his tone too innocent. I stare at him, whirling from my position of glaring out of the window. "What?"

"Why would you want to meet him?" I ask, exasperation loud and apparent in my voice.

Luke snorts at my reaction, his eyes sparkling with humor. "Just to see if he's good for you."

"Why would you want to see that? _You_ didn't treat me good." I snap.

Luke slams his foot on the brakes, startled by my reaction. I nearly fly out of my seat, as does Luke. He turns his head to look at me, his eyes showing his evident guilt. "I'm _sorry_, alright?"

"'_Sorry_' doesn't cover it." I retort.

Luke purses his lips, I can tell that he's getting annoyed. "Annabeth, I made a huge mistake back then, but I can't change it, okay? The least I can do is put it behind me and not make the same mistake again. Please don't keep going on about it, Annabeth. I _get it_, okay?"

I blink. He does make a valid point. "Fine."

"So... You'll give me a second chance?"

I take a deep breath, "Yes. One more chance."

Luke gives me a gentle smile and begins driving the car again. "I won't let you down again, Annabeth."

"I hope not."

* * *

**Author's Note: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter :) I did my best and I hope that it turned out alright! Personally, though, I think the ending was quite abrupt, so I apologize for that. **

**Anyway... Who likes My Chemical Romance? I'm super sad that the band ended :( But I'm sure they'll never be forgotten.**

**Who watches Castle? I LOVE it! Castle's epic, Beckett is hilarious :p The two of them make an epic duo! Well... With the exception of Percabeth xD No one trumps Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson!**

**For those of you who are wondering about Luke, I promise that he will be in the way of Percabeth but he'll be sorted out soon :p So don't worry that much about it! As for Rachel... She won't be that much of a problem as well. Percy and Annabeth aren't going to date straight away, I don't want to make it so rushed. I hate writing stories when people are dating throughout, no offence, I get bored writing it. I do enjoy reading them though, but I do prefer stories where they have the main pairing get together in the end! As for Sophie, I hope you enjoyed her little presence in the beginning :) I'll tell you now that you'll see her quite a lot during this fanfic, and Brody might appear soon as well ;-D**

**Okay, I'll end this author's note before it turns into the length of a novel :p I could keep on ranting about other things but I'll let you go now xD**

**Review if you want to tell me how I'm doing, I appreciate it :) Favorite if you really enjoy this so far and think it deserves to be on your favorites list, and follow if you want to see more! **

**Take care and have a good day :)**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six - The Tension Rises

**Disclaimer - I don't own PJO or HoO, Rick Riordan does.**

**Thanks to DaFanFicCritic, Chunk Li, percyROCKS123, HunterofArtemis32, fanficlover818, SapphireJems, Addie99, blaxe27713, suebsas, lovepercabethalways, Guest (Guest), Die hard fan (Guest), Person (Guest), DrewTheSeagull, ChrysosArgentum, Codex (Guest), foreverfanfiction, allen r, August1999 and Andromeda Luna!**

**********Anonymous review replies:**

**********Die hard fan - Thanks :) I'm glad you enjoyed last chapter! If you read this one, I apologize for the lack of Percabeth, but I still hope you enjoy.**

**Person - I'm glad you liked it :) As for Percy and Annabeth, I'm not going to pair them up instantly, but I promise there will quite a lot of intense moments between the two ;-D And My Chemical Romance... I'm still so sad that they broke up :( but you're right, they _WILL_ be remembered and honored for a very, very long time :) Thanks for reading!  
**

**Codex - :) I'm glad you liked it, I hope you enjoy this one as well if you read it!**

**Guest - Haha, xD Its okay, I love My Chemical Romance as well ;-D They are honestly one of the best bands I've ever heard of, in my opinion. And don't worry! Luke and Annabeth aren't dating again, Annabeth just meant giving it another shot as friends :)**

**lovepercabethalways - I couldn't PM you, so I will respond here xD Thanks for reviewing, I'm glad you liked it. **

******Summary - There were many ways Annabeth Chase imagined that she'd meet her soulmate. Spilling her coffee on him certainly wasn't the way. She also didn't expect her soulmate to be such an idiot - a Seaweed Brain, in fact. Neither did she expect her soulmate to have a daughter.**

* * *

"So... You're _sure_ the measurements you made are correct?" I look up at Luke, concerned about the blueprints. Something was definitely wrong, the two of us could see it, yet we didn't know what the problem was. I know, stupid right?

Luke nods, his eyes defiant. "Yeah, I've double checked them. Its not the measurements."

"The design, then?" I look back down at the blueprints, they seemed okay, but something was still off about it all.

"I've got no clue." Luke sighs, running a hand through his sandy hair, "Break?"

I nod. "Sure."

The two of us relax back into our seats, thinking about it. The two of us got along surprisingly well after that incident on Friday night. I decided to give Luke a chance and so far, he hadn't screwed it up yet. In fact, the two of us haven't even tried shooting remarks to each other yet, which was quite a success.

I was quite liking being his friend - sort of - again.

"You know, you aren't as bad as I thought you would be." I admit after a while. Luke looks at me, a small smile beginning to form on his lips.

"Really?"

I nod, "I was worried you'd be all conceited and arrogant and that you'd go back to the way you were in high school."

Luke blinks, his eyes thoughtful. "Was I that bad in high school?"

I shrug, "I don't know. We never really knew each other back then. You were this cute, popular jock, and I was the leader of the debate club."

Luke grins slightly. "Ah, I remember."

"Yeah. Then, you asked me out to the winter dance and I agreed. I don't think we even knew that much about each other."

"True." Luke admits, looking rather abashed, "Even when we were dating, we still had our separate lives."

"Well, I was sort of lovesick." I mutter, Luke gives me a sheepish slight smile.

"I wasn't a good boyfriend to you, huh? I only came to you when there was no one else to talk to, or when I was super angry." Luke looks at me, his eyes turning soft. "I'm sorry."

I shrug. "Its in the past."

Luke nods, his eyes still having the look of guilt. "Do you know why I asked you out in the first place?" He asks suddenly, his voice soft. "I never told you back then, and even when you asked me why, I just avoided the question."

I pause. "Why did you? We never even crossed paths before you asked me to the dance."

Luke closes his eyes, his knuckles clenching slightly. Then, he takes a breath and opens his eyes. I blink, startled at how his normal warm shade of blue became a darker, guiltier shade.

"Annabeth, my friends... You know, Will and the others... They told me to."

I purse my lips, feeling a pang of hurt and anger as I force myself to listen on.

"Well, I wasn't planning on going, but they were dead set on it." He mumbles, "I told them I couldn't because I didn't have a date and I didn't like any girls at the school."

"So, they picked a random girl in the school and told you to ask her out." I finish, taking a guess, "And that was me?"

Luke nods somberly. "I'm sorry, Annabeth. But during the dance and stuff, I thought you were actually pretty nice and that I was lucky that my friends randomly picked you besides the other fake girls at school."

I close my eyes, feeling my anger beginning to build. Even so, Luke had asked me out because of a dare.

"Why didn't you end it after the dance, then?" I ask softly, curious. "If you didn't like me that way, why did you ask me out?"

"I was tired of being alone. All my friends had girlfriends or crushes or crushers and I was there, alone." Luke admits quietly. "You were the only girl that I thought was cool and thats why I asked you out. Because I was lonely and you were there."

"I see." I take a breath, that was quite a lot to learn. "Do you know why I agreed to go to the dance with you?"

Luke raises an eyebrow. "No, I don't. But I have a gut feeling that I'm going to find out now."

I manage a tiny smile. "Your instincts are correct." I murmur, then I continue. "I had a massive crush on you back in high school, thats why I joined debate and all the other clubs and sports and made such a big name for myself."

Luke's eyebrows furrow in confusion, I continue on.

"I wanted you to at least know who I was, so that I didn't feel quite so invisible. You can't imagine the joy I felt inside of me when you asked me to the dance and when you asked if I would be your girlfriend." I confess.

Luke swallows but doesn't say anything, I don't say anything either. The two of us just sit in silence, looking down at the ground, after letting everything out.

In a way, I'm glad Luke has told me what he has. But I also feel sick, Luke's side of the relationship was a lie. But... I'll forgive him. I'll give him a chance to actually get to know me and maybe become my friend. I won't stop him any longer.

"Annabeth. I need to tell you something else." Luke breaks the silence and I turn my head to look over at him, gesturing with a slight wave of my fingers for him to continue. Luke swallows and ploughs on. "Listen, Annabeth, I never meant to cheat on you. It was at Will's party, and... Well, you know that at Will's parties there's always alcohol. So, I got drunk. _Too_ drunk. It wasn't very wise of me, I know. Maybe if I hadn't drunk that much, I wouldn't have done it, but I just want you to know that I'm sorry and that I still accept full responsibility of my actions that night. I'm sorry."

I look at him, his words are full of promise and I can tell he means them. "I forgive you. Just... When you get another girlfriend and she means something to you, don't get drunk and sleep with some other girl." I warn.

Luke manages a tiny smile, "Thanks for the tip."

When the work day ends, Luke and I still haven't fought and I find that quite amazing and that its a good start.

* * *

As I leave the work building and begin the walk home, my phone begins ringing. I look at the caller and see that its Percy. A smile begins to form on my lips.

"Hey, Percy." I greet as I answer the call.

"Annabeth!" Percy cheers on the other end, I grin, rolling my eyes. "Miss me?"

I smirk, "Oh yes. I did. I barely managed to survive the weekend after that Friday night," I drawl.

Percy snickers on the phone, "You're awesome, Chase."

"I know I am."

"Whoa. Conceited, much?"

"Yep. And I know it."

Percy tuts, like a teacher scolding a naughty student. I roll my eyes at the sound. "How can you still manage to sound and act like a child when you're twenty-six?" I question, impersonating a young, innocent first grader's voice.

"Well... I would tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."

I blink. "That sounds horrible." I mutter, hearing Percy laugh on the other end. "So, how was work today?" I ask.

"Ah, nothing special. Work's going well. And you?"

"Luke was great, we actually got along well."

I can actually picture Percy frowning as he speaks, "I thought I told you be careful of that guy."

"I'm an adult, Percy. I can make my own decisions. Don't you trust me?"

I hear Percy sigh on the phone, "I trust you, Annabeth."

"Alright. I promise that I know what I'm doing with Luke. I gave him one last chance on Friday for us to be friends."

"Friday?" Percy asks, his tone sharp.

"Uh, yeah, he was my ride."

"I thought you didn't have a ride." Percy mutters, his tone quiet.

"Well, Luke offered one."

"_I_ also offered one."

I pinch the bridge of my nose. "He offered and he didn't live so far from me and it was pointless for me to decline, Percy."

Percy doesn't respond. I can tell he's furious.

"Why are you angry?" I ask softly, after a short, brief tense silence.

"I'm not angry." Percy mumbles, his tone clearly showing his anger. I resist the urge to roll my eyes, I get the feeling to do that a lot now. "I'm just... Nevermind." He mutters.

"Sure." I retort, not missing a beat. "What's the problem, Percy? Just tell me."

I hear Percy sigh. "Annabeth, I just think that you shouldn't let your guard down so easy with Luke. Remember what you said to me before? Saying that you knew you couldn't ever trust Luke?"

I purse my lips. "Maybe I've changed my mind."

Percy mutters something inaudible on the other end and I wish that I could reach into my phone and pull him out and smack him. "What was that?" I ask, my tone sweet yet thinly veiled with anger.

"Nothing." Percy clears his throat. "I've got to go now, see you."

Before I can even say one more word, he's disconnected the call. I stare at it, unblinkingly for a second, before letting my anger out.

"Ugh! That... _Brat_!" I shriek, slamming my phone back into my purse, ignoring the startled and disapproving stares I receive from the pedestrians and drivers around me. "What is his problem? Doesn't he know I can take care of myself?" I mutter to myself, not quite so quietly. I continue on ignoring the looks people shoot me, "Who does he think he is? Telling me to do what I should... He's not the boss of me."

"Ah... Boy troubles, dear Annabeth?"

I spin around at the familiar voice and come face to face to Connor Stoll, an impish grin plastered on his face and his son's hand in his.

"Hi, Connor. Hi, Brody." I greet, not very warmly. Connor's eyes narrow thoughtfully as he looks at me, his smile fading slightly.

"Who were you talking about just then, Annabeth? Some guy giving you some trouble?"

I purse my lips and shake my head. Connor shakes his head at me, his eyes gleaming slightly.

"Annabeth, dear, don't think I'm that stupid. Because... Well, I'm not."

I snort in disbelief, Brody sniggers at his father. The two of us exchange cheeky winks, much to Connor's surprise.

"_Ahem_." Connor coughs delicately, sending the two of us annoyed looks. "As I was about to say... Annabeth, don't think I haven't picked up on your little habits you tend to do while lying."

"Habits?" I raise an eyebrow, watching Connor sigh.

"Yes, you know. _Habits_. The way you purse your lips and nod, saying that everything's fine. Number one, pursing your lips and nodding is a simple sign of you lying. Plus, if someone say's that they are fine, they probably aren't." Connor explains, looking at me knowingly. I close my eyes, taking a deep breath.

"Connor, I'm fine. I _promise_."

"Lie." Connor tuts, prompting the urge within me to smack him senseless.

"_Ow_!" Connor yelps, slamming one hand to the side of his head where a large, red imprint of my hand is lying on. "_Geeze_, Annabeth, that really... _Hurt_."

"Too bad." I reply shortly, ignoring Connor's exasperated expression.

"Don't you _care_, Annabeth?" Connor squeaks, sounding mildly offended.

"Not particularly." I flick off an imaginary piece of lint off my jeans. "Should I?"

Connor rolls his eyes, "You can be such a pain in the neck, Annabeth Chase."

I smirk, "I know." I lift up my hand in Brody's direction and I feel him slap it, I grin. Brody snickers, and Connor sighs in disbelief once more.

"Seriously, Annabeth, lets go get some food." Connor offers. "Melissa's got a busy work night, and I'm sure Brody would love the company."

"Yeah, I would." Brody intervenes, looking up at me cheekily. I manage a tiny smile.

"Alright."

* * *

**Author's Note: Not my best chapter, I know :( Ah. There's also not a lot of Percy and Annabeth, I know, but I promise that the next chappie will have jealousy between the two when they interact ;-D As for Luke, don't worry that much about him, okay? Nothing will happen between him and Annabeth besides friendship :) So, how'd you like the chapter? I had to throw in a little argument between Percy and Annabeth, everything between them can't go perfectly, right?**

**Hm, have any of you watched She's the Man with Amanda Bynes? :p When I watched it, it became one of my favorite movies :) It was hilarious! Amanda Bynes was perfect for the role and Channing Tatum was extremely adorable during it :) What did you think of it?**

**So, you know the drill ;-D, favorite if you really like it so far, follow if you want to see more, and review if you'd like to tell me how I'm doing. I'll appreciate whatever you do, even if you just read xD Ooh, and that reminds me! The story's got past 2,000 views! :D Thanks for reading! **


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven - Surprise!

**Disclaimer - I don't own PJO or HoO, Rick Riordan does.**

**Thanks to ShatterMyHeart710, SingleSilver, percabeth10, Kipperinca, blankslate37, LongLiveLaughter, cocky-gurl, ValdezEcho, hopesolofan, dont judge a book by its cover, RedNebulosity, percabethlovever (Guest), everett2, foreverfanfiction, Codex (Guest), allen r, Shandia99, Liveyourlifedanceing, Love-and-Luck-are-Lies, Piperness, Queen of Reading, TheOracle18, ouatpercabeth, Hpfanx100, turquoiserainlilies, qwertzkey, riptidedaggerpercabeth33, and all the guests!**

**************Anonymous review replies: **

**************percabethlovever - :D Nice to meet another Castle fan! I agree, that show is absolutely one of the best I've ever watched :)**

**************Codex - Hehe, Jealous Percy is fun to write. Thanks :)**

**************Guest who said 'Awesomelyness! That's a new word invented for this story! Please update! But I want to know more about Luke and Annabeth and how Percy knows Luke... I'm so curious!' - Thanks! I'm glad you are enjoying it :) And if you read this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it as well. As for Luke and Percy's mini history, I hope you'll be mighty surprised by it ;-D**

**************Guest who said 'I love she's the man! "i get really bad nosebleeds". But every time I see channing Tatum in another movie he reminds me of the awkward guy in she's the man!' - Same here! I loved that scene! :D I think I died by laughter when I saw it :)**

**Summary - There were many ways Annabeth Chase imagined that she'd meet her soulmate. Spilling her coffee on him certainly wasn't the way. She also didn't expect her soulmate to be such an idiot - a Seaweed Brain, in fact. Neither did she expect her soulmate to have a daughter.**

* * *

"Thank you," I say to the waitress as she places my chicken parmigiana in front of me. She smiles politely at me and leaves the table.

I turn to face Connor, who's sitting opposite me. Brody is seated beside him, currently shoveling his lasagna into his mouth at an _extremely_ fast rate. I'm pretty sure that the only person who could eat faster than that is Percy. The thought of him almost makes me smile. _Almost_. With a pang, I remember our argument earlier, that was brief yet tense.

"So, why were you talking to yourself earlier, Annabeth?" Connor questions, as another waitress appears and places down his food as well. The two of us start to eat as I begin talking.

"I just had a little argument with a friend." I state. Connor raises an eyebrow.

"You sounded pretty angry." Connor says, "Does this _friend_ need to be set straight?"

I shake my head, feeling a smile begin to appear on my lips. "No, but thanks. I can handle it on my own."

"Okay, but you know you can call me whenever, right?"

"I know I can. Thanks, Connor."

He flashes me a toothy grin.

"So, how's Travis? I haven't talked to him in quite a while."

Connor laughs as he thinks about his answer. "Poor brother of mine can't find the right way to propose to Katie." He chuckles, "And Katie's just getting impatient with every single moment that passes by."

I smile at the thought of two of my friends. Katie and Travis have quite a funny love story. If I were to tell it, it would take some time.

"Well, tell him good luck from me."

"Will do."

I look over at Brody, "Anything new happening at school these days?" I ask, watching Brody gulp down his food hastily to talk to me.

"Not much. I was invited to this other party, though! Its on the... Tenth."

"I see." I smile at Brody's happy expression. "Did they invite _everyone_ in your class?"

Brody nods, his smile faltering a little. "That means Sophie will be there." He murmurs, almost to himself. I raise an eyebrow.

"Did you and Sophie make amends?"

"Amends?" Brody's eyebrows furrow thoughtfully, his eyes shining with curiosity as he looks up at me. "What is that?"

"Did you and Sophie settle your differences?" I rephrase the question and Brody nods at my answer.

"I think she does not dislike me as much as she did before." Brody offers quietly, "And I bought her a new color pencil. Well, a whole set of them!"

"That's sweet," I smile.

Brody blinks, the color beginning to rise into his cheeks. He crosses his arms, pouting. "It's not sweet!" He protests, "It was a manly gesture."

I blink at him, staring blankly. "Manly?" I choke out, trying not to burst out in laughter. Brody nods defiantly.

"Yeah! A man needs to set things right! Right, Dad?" Brody cocks his head towards his father, and Connor nods, his eyes serious.

"Yeah. Never make a woman angry," Connor warns.

"Woman? Sophie is a girl," Brody crunches up his eyebrows. Connor shrugs, a tiny smile playing on his lips as he takes a bite of his food.

"Same diff, son."

"Diff?"

Connor sighs, "Difference."

"Oh, okay."

I watch the two of them, amused. Being with his son brings up a whole new different side of Connor, in my opinion. Being with Brody makes Connor seem much more adultlike yet still have that boyish quality with his son. Sort of like Percy. I suck in a tight breath, and Connor raises an eyebrow in concern.

"Everything okay?" He asks quietly, looking over the table at me. Brody slurps down his ice lemon tea noisily and Connor shoots him a look. Brody returns it with a sheepish smile. Connor turns to face me again, "Annabeth?"

I plaster a smile on my face, "Yeah, I'm fine. Nothing's wrong. Really." I add.

Connor continues to look at me, his expression unreadable. Finally, he says, "Okay."

* * *

The next day at work, both Luke and I are quiet as we work.

"What's wrong, Annabeth?" He pipes up, his tone wary. "Did I say something?"

I shake my head quietly, not looking up from my papers.

"Oh." Luke is silent for about two seconds, "But something's wrong, isn't there?"

I shrug, this time looking up at him. "Its okay, I'm fine. I'm just thinking."

"About what?" Luke prods me gently with his arm. I raise an eyebrow over at him,

"Do you really want to hear about my problems?" I drawl, watching Luke roll his eyes at my response.

"You can tell me anything, you know?"

I shrug, resisting the childish urge to stick my tongue out at him. "Luke, I still want to go slow with our new... Friendship?" I pause, thinking my sentence over. "Gosh, that sounds super weird," I admit, only a tad bit sheepish.

Luke chuckles but still looks at me, his eyes curious. "Annabeth, I promised I wouldn't hurt you anymore, right? I'm going to try and keep that promise."

I purse my lips. "Thats the key word, isn't it? _Try_."

Luke sighs and licks his lips, clearing his throat. "Annabeth, give me chance, okay?"

I nod, "I already said I would, Luke. But, there's some things I want to keep private."

Luke looks at me, nodding his head slowly, his obvious hesitance clear in his eyes. "I get it, Annabeth. Let's work, alright? This time, no awkward silence, okay?"

I smirk, "Sure, Luke."

The rest of the work day passes with the two of us talking about ideas about our project.

"Nice work today, you two!" Charles beams at the two of us, his teeth a shocking shade of white.

"Thanks." Both Luke and I reply in unison, returning his compliment with a sincere smile.

"I'm glad the two of you are working so well together," Charles admits, looking quite sheepish. "To be honest, Annabeth, I wasn't so sure how you would respond to having a partner. I know you are independent, but I was sure you needed a break. That led up to my decision with having Luke partner up with you." Charles finishes his small speech with a proud gleam in his eye. I nod at him, plastering a smile on my lips once again.

"Thank you, sir." Is all that I say. Charles gives the two of us another smile before walking away, a bounce in his step.

"Well, Annabeth. I think this is where we say our goodbyes for the day." Luke says, his tone somber. I roll my eyes at him playfully.

"See you tomorrow, Luke."

"Bye, Annabeth."

The two of us then part ways, Luke heading back to his office for some more work, and I heading towards the elevator.

My phone rings just as the elevator doors slide shut. I answer it after a few brief seconds of ruffling in my purse, "Annabeth here."

"Hey, Annabeth."

"Percy," I tighten my grip on my phone, "Hi."

I hear him give a soft chuckle on the end. I feel a smile begin to force its way onto my lips, "Annabeth, I'm sorry. I had no right to sound that harsh with you yesterday."

"Its fine."

"No, its not. So... Let me make it up to you."

I blink, feeling my cheeks beginning to become hot, "No, no, its fine!" I protest weakly, Percy snickers.

"Are you scared of spending some quality time with me?" Percy sounds offended, but I can tell he's faking it. I roll my eyes as the elevator doors ding open and I step out.

"No, I'm not. Well, kind of. I'm quite a bit scared of what you mean by 'quality time'." I repeat his words and I hear Percy snort on the other end of the phone. "Ah, snorting. What an unattractive quality you have."

I can practically see Percy roll his eyes as he speaks, "As if _you_ don't ever snort."

I ignore his statement, however true it may be. "So, how are you going to make it up to me?" I inquire, "Besides, you really don't owe me."

"But I want to."

I sigh, "Don't you find spending time with me boring?"

"Why would I? I _like_ you."

I feel my heart stop for one, painstakingly confusing second, "_Excuse me_?"

"Whoa, you sound offended. Sorry."

I blush furiously as I step out of the building, I open my mouth to speak but walk right into some guy's back.

"Sorry!" I stammer, looking down at the ground furiously and reaching down to pick up my fallen phone.

"Ha, its no problem." The guy leans down to pick up his own phone and when he looks back at me, his sea-green eyes brighten up and his smile widens. "Hi, again, Annabeth," Percy chuckles, wrapping his two massive (and muscular) arms around me in a tight hug. Once again, my blush is back and is even more prominent than before. I manage to stop heating up as Percy releases me.

"So, why are you out here, Percy?" I ask curious. "Is this part of our 'quality time'?"

Percy grins and holds out a hand for me. I raise an eyebrow,

"Percy, I'll take your hand if you promise that you aren't going to kill me."

Percy rolls his eyes and sticks out his tongue at me playfully, "I promise, Annabeth."

I take his hand and let him drag me down the sidewalk. He ignores the weird looks the passer-bys give him when they see him pulling me down the sidewalk with a boyish gleam in his eyes. Finally, we reach a car. Percy's car. I look at him, still quite wary of his idea of 'quality time'.

"So, where are we going?"

Percy opens up the passenger door and rolls his eyes at me, "Its a surprise, Annabeth."

I shut my eyes and slide into the car, "I hope it doesn't kill me."

I hear Percy chuckle in amusement right before he closes the door softly.

"Annabeth!"

I turn rapidly at the sound of the voice, startled. There, sitting in the back, is Sophie. I can't resist the massive smile that appears on my face.

"Sophie!" I grin at her, "Nice to see you again."

"I haven't seen you in a while," Sophie looks at me, chewing her lower lip, "I was worried."

I blink, not knowing what to say. Finally, I settle on a simple, "Why?"

"Because Daddy didn't want to talk about you yesterday when I asked about you." She explains, "I wanted you to eat dinner with us again, but he said that you might not want to."

I purse my lips, "Well, we had a little argument yesterday. But I think we're back on track again."

Sophie nods wisely in agreement, my lips quirk upwards at that sight. "Every couple has arguments sometimes, I know, but I was still worried."

I gape at her, probably looking like an idiot. Then the driver's door opens and Percy slides in, looking sheepish.

"Sorry I took so long to get in here, Mommy called." He explained, craning his neck around to look at Sophie, "She's eating dinner with us tonight, pirate."

I raise an eyebrow at the two of them, "Pirate?" I question, ignoring the way my stomach clenches at the mention of Rachel.

Sophie giggles, "Last night, Daddy and I dressed up as pirates and had a play fight with styrofoam swords, I won."

I grin widely, I can totally picture it. Percy and Sophie dressed up in pirate suits having a play fight. "That must've been fun."

"Maybe you can join in one of them," Sophie offers, an excited gleam entering her eyes. "Its sort of tradition."

"Maybe." I smile.

Percy turns on the engine and he turns to the two of us, "Buckle your seatbelts, my dearest friends."

I roll my eyes but do as he says, Sophie's already buckled her seatbelt, so she sticks her tongue out at Percy.

"Where we going? Can't you tell us?" Sophie pleads, her bright green eyes showing her immense anticipation for an answer. "Please, Daddy!"

Percy chuckles as he drives, not looking away from the road in front of him, "I promise you'll like this surprise, Sophie."

Sophie sighs from the backseat and I look over at Percy, "Can't you give us a hint?"

Percy shakes his head firmly as he takes a left turn. I look out of the window, looking for a sign to give any indication to me where Percy was heading with the two of us in tow.

Finally, I turn back to Sophie, who is pouting and staring at the back of Percy's seat.

"Sophie?"

"Yes?"

"How's school lately?" I ask, "Oh, and Brody was wondering why you are nice to him now."

Sophie chews her lower lip thoughtfully, dragging her eyes away from the back of Percy's chair to me. "School is fine, and I'm just nice to Brody because Daddy wants me to be. He says that Brody really regrets breaking my color pencil and that if he could take it back, he would."

My eyes dart over to Percy and I see a smirk forming on his lips, I grin slightly at it, before turning back to Sophie. "Ah, I see. I'll pass that bit of information over to him, then." Sophie nods and I can't suppress my suspicion about Brody and Sophie any longer, "I think Brody's got a crush on you, to be honest."

Percy begins coughing and nearly crashes into a car in front of us. "_What_?" He demands, regaining his control on the pedals and steering wheel.

"Sorry?" Sophie splutters, her cheeks flaming red.

"Hey, its just a thought." I say simply, "Are we close now?"

Percy nods weakly, his face still a sickly pale color.

Finally, the car stops and I find that we're in a parking lot in front of the cinema. I stare at it as the three of us exit the car.

"Ooh!" Sophie exclaims, moving to my side, the sunlight hitting her red hair, "What movie are we going to be watching?" She asks, her head turning between Percy and I.

Percy grins over at her, "Whatever you want, Sophie."

She grabs my hand and pulls me along behind her, I throw a glance back at Percy who is grinning at the two of us widely. I roll my eyes at him and continue to let Sophie pull me along, Percy trailing behind the two of us like a little puppy.

"Can we watch... Despicable Me, please?" Sophie asks, tugging Percy's sleeve. Percy gives her a soft smile and nods.

"Of course," Percy murmurs, before telling the person behind the counter. Soon, the three of us are each carrying our own popcorn and drinks and are walking towards our seats. Well, Percy's carrying two boxes of popcorn, along with two cokes. I admit, the fact that Percy eats too much yet still looks as fit as an Olympic star, makes me quite jealous and annoyed.

The three of us settle down, Sophie takes a seat beside me, much to Percy's amusement and my surprise. Percy takes the seat beside me, leaving me in between them.

After a few minutes of the three of us conversing, the lights dim and the screen flickers on. I shut Percy up, as I'd like to watch the movie in peace, and Sophie giggles at her father.

During the movie, which is quite hilarious, I look down at my hand that's currently lying on the armrest and find it right besides Percy's. I tense and I feel my palms beginning to sweat for some odd reason. I tear my gaze away from our hands back towards the screen.

"Annabeth," Percy whispers, his lips extremely close to my ear, "Are you enjoying it?"

I can hear his nervousness in his voice and I feel a smile rise up on my lips, "I am. Thanks, Percy."

"No problem." He chuckles softly and turns his attention back to the movie and bursts out laughing the moment he does so. Sophie is giggling madly as well, and I turn to look at the screen and see the main character, Gru, dangling above the Vector guy, with two little yellow guys (minions?) holding onto him. I smirk at the sight and hear people guffaw around me.

"This is hilarious!" Sophie whispers excitedly beside me, I turn to look at her and she sends me the sweetest smile I've ever seen.

"Yeah, it is." I murmur quietly. The three of us settle down and Percy chews his popcorn noisily, which draws my attention to him. He's gazing at the screen, a hand full of popcorn in his left hand, and his right hand laying right beside mine. I blink down at the two of them, feeling the intense urge to slip my hand under his.

Unable to concentrate on the comedy any longer, I try and occupy my head with thoughts that have nothing to do with Percy's hand. Unfortunately, it doesn't help, and the fact that Percy's hand is so tantalizingly close to mine makes me quite frustrated. I know, friends shouldn't feel that urge to hold each other's hands, yet I did. Friends also didn't blush around each other, or be worried about how fast their hearts would beat when they were around each other.

"Are you alright, Annabeth?" Percy whispers, his hot breath hitting my ear, making my breath hitch.

"Um," I clear my throat quietly, "I'm fine. Why?"

"I can hear you thinking," Percy chuckles softly.

I smile shakily and gather up the courage to do what I'm about to do, I look down at our hands, raise mine up and slip it underneath his. Percy tenses besides me but doesn't move his hand, I breathe a small sigh of relief and blush lightly. I sneak a glance over at him and see his eyes pointed towards the screen, but his cheeks beginning to color lightly. I can't help but feel that tiny rush of pride that I am making him blush.

The two of us sit like that for a while, my hand in his, the two of us watching the movie with identical, silly grins plastered on our faces.

When the movie ends, the three of us head out, Percy and I still holding hands. I don't mind it though, and neither does he. I see Sophie staring at our joined hands as we walk out of the cinema, but she doesn't comment on it.

When the three of us settle down in Percy's car, Sophie speaks up,

"Are you going to marry Daddy now, Annabeth?" Sophie asks, her voice barely containing her excitement. I blink and feel the heat begin to rise up in my cheeks and I look down at my hand entwined in Percy's. Percy blinks rapidly and I see his cheeks begin to color even more.

"Uh, I don't know," Is all I can manage, not able to meet Percy's eyes as I stammer out my answer. Sophie grins widely,

"Can I be the flower girl?" She asks innocently, however Percy nearly slams into the car in front of us, while I feel as if my whole body has suddenly been set on fire.

"Sophie -" Percy stutters over his words, and I can't blame him for being all flustered.

Sophie laughs from the backseat, "I'm just messing with you two!" She exclaims.

I plaster a smile on my pale face as I look back at her, "Oh."

Sophie giggles cutely, "But you two do look good together."

I gape at her.

**Author's Note: Ah... Did I say there was going to be jealousy in this chappie? xD Sorry, I lied :p Heh, anyways, I won't be able to reply to your reviews quickly, so my apologies. I'll probably be able to reply to them near the end of the week. You see, exams are coming up and my touch rugby tournament is coming up and I got to practice :/ **

**So how'd you like this chapter? I hope you thought it was fluffy enough :) I usually suck at writing fluff, but I hope that you think its decent. Well, if you do call the ending fluff xD**

**Ooh, and Percy and Annabeth held hands! :D Finally! Hmm... But lets see if they start dating, shall we? ;-D**

**Please, follow if you want to see more, favorite if you enjoy this fanfiction so far, and if you'd like to tell me how I'm doing, drop a review! **


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight - Birthday

**Disclaimer - I don't own PJO or HoO, Rick Riordan does.**

**Thanks to SteveTheWarhal, percythepanda, zoew, ShadowRider9, percabeth10, WElaine21, Storylover888, Marionette of Ancient Relics, heartdraconis19361, The Stars and Air Ninja, Percabeth45, gendrysstarks, xX9SoftballChick9Xx, bookwormultimate, yassie99, alexberndt12, aggietastic, NeNe-Chan345, ThePowerWithin73, StarryNights04, dreamchaser31lucky, my bff is a vampire freak, iman ahmed, Souless Heartless Page, way2hwt4u, AmaazeX, BadaBingxBadaBoom, PurpleQueen981, LightningThiefLover, Callalily7, Lightning-AND'Death, Queen of Reading, ChildOfSea, Love-and-Luck-are-Lies, everett2, RedNebulosity, alyaJackson, lileverlark, LongLiveLaughter, IceLumos963, luvyourstory (Guest), la bella nunez, PercyJackson is SeaweedBrain, Benneb02 (Guest), ShineForMe8012, foreverfanfiction, allen r and August1999!**

******************Anonymous review replies:**

******************Benneb02 - Uh, sorry, but you can't finish my fanfic xD Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, if you do read it. **

******************luvyourstory - Here's the update :) Sorry for the delay, but I'm glad you are enjoying the story so far.**

******************Guest who said 'Awesome chapter' - xD Thank you. **

******************Guest who said 'I love this! So entertaining and it has so much potential! Please continue! It's becoming one of my favorite stories' - Thanks! I'm really touched and I am super happy you are enjoying it so far :) Your review meant a lot to me. Thanks for reading!**

******************Guest who said 'Great chapter! UPDATE SOON!' - Here's the update, if you read it, I hope you enjoy :)**

******************Guest who said 'This story is fantastic! I am really excited for the next chapter. Great job and good luck with everything!' - Thanks for the support! I'm happy all of you are enjoying it so far :) If you read this chapter, I hope you like it.**

******************Guest who said 'I LOVE THIS STORY ITS AMAZING! Please update soon and let luke and annabeth be friends but nothing more cause that would just feel wrong. Oh and i love sophie! PLEASE UPDATE SOON!' - :) Don't worry about Luke and Annabeth, I made it pretty clear they aren't going to be a couple many times in my author notes xD I'm happy you like Sophie, she's a fun character for me to write! If you read this chapter, I hope you enjoy it.**

**Summary - There were many ways Annabeth Chase imagined that she'd meet her soulmate. Spilling her coffee on him certainly wasn't the way. She also didn't expect her soulmate to be such an idiot - a Seaweed Brain, in fact. Neither did she expect her soulmate to have a daughter.**

* * *

"So, Annabeth, my birthday is coming up on Saturday," Sophie says on the other end of the phone. I relax into my couch, propping my feet up on the other end, as I move my phone closer to my ear.

"That's nice, does Daddy have something big planned for you?"

I can practically envision Sophie rolling her eyes as she says, "Of course not! _I_ make the plans," She sighs and I resist the urge to start laughing.

"So, I guess that he doesn't try surprise parties on you?" I ask.

Sophie scoffs loudly on the other end of the phone. "One thing you should know about Daddy is that he is horrible at lying!" She exclaims, I chuckle, amused.

I hear a distant '_Hey_!' on the other end and I feel my smile widen at my realization that its Percy. "So, who are you planning to invite?"

"You, of course. And Mommy! And my friends at school, obviously," Sophie responds quickly and easily. I feel my insides warm at her words '_You, of course_'. I am happy that she thinks that much of me, however I can't deny the massive jolt that hits me in the gut when I hear her talk about inviting her mother, Rachel. I close my eyes and scold myself for my pathetic jealousy issues. After all, I had nothing to be jealous about. Percy and I weren't an _item_, we had just held hands once. _Once_. I feel my cheeks begin to heat up at that blissfully wonderful memory.

"Annabeth? Are you there?" Sophie asks, her voice entering my ears. I can hear the concern in them. "Please, talk to me."

"Oh, sorry! I just got... Distracted. Sorry," I add weakly.

Sophie lets out a light laugh on the other end, I smile at the sound of it. The two of us are silent for a few moments, until Sophie speaks.

"Um, could you please invite Brody for me? He did apologize and there will be cake at my party... And he told me his favorite food is cake," Sophie adds, her tone softening.

I try to restrain from smirking, "Hm, I'm sure Brody would agree without a second thought."

I hear Sophie give a gasp on the other end, and my restrained smirk slips out. I can see that Sophie has grasped my hidden meaning.

"Oh, stop it, Annabeth!" She groans, "Brody does _not_ like me!"

I snicker, "How do you know? Have you asked him?"

I can picture Sophie's blush as she stumbles over her words, "No, I haven't. If I did, however, I am sure he'd deny it!"

"Then, he'd be in denial," I retort simply, enjoying our little banter.

Sophie pauses, and I know that she's thinking of a comeback.

"Face it, Soph, I've won this round!"

I hear a defeated sigh, "Fine, fine, Annabeth."

Then I hear laughter on the other, two sets. I smile, knowing Percy is there.

"I have to go now, Annabeth. Daddy wants to talk to you! See you on Saturday, Annabeth!" She says cheerily. I hear her voice fade as she ends her sentence, and I presume she's passing the phone to Percy.

"Hey, Annabeth," Percy's low, deep, soothing voice slips into my ear as he speaks.

"Hi, Percy," I try my best to restrain my oncoming blush as I speak to him. "What's up?" I ask, trying to sound casual. Once again, the memory of the two of us holding hands appears in my mind and my blush deepens. At that moment, I am quite thankful for the fact that he can't see me.

"Nothing much, just getting Sophie ready for bed," He says simply, "And you?"

I shrug, "Nothing really. I'm just sitting on the couch with my pajamas on talking to you."

Percy laughs, "Nice, Chase. Let me guess, you're wearing Dora ones?"

I roll my eyes, "There's nothing wrong with pajamas!" I defend, "And they are Mickey Mouse."

Percy coughs, an obvious attempt at stifling his laughter.

"Oh shut up, Mickey Mouse is a classic."

Percy manages to smother his laughter to talk to me, "Okay, okay."

The two of us are silent, and I can't help but hear Percy's slow, deep breaths. I wonder if he can hear mine.

"You breathe loud," I state.

I hear Percy snort, "Wow, thanks."

"You're welcome," I grin. Then, I feel my smile falter, "So, Rachel is coming to Sophie's birthday, huh?"

Percy is silent for a few seconds. "Yes," He finally confirms, "She is. Is there a problem?" He asks, his tone concerned and confused.

I shut my eyes, feeling jealousy begin to rise up inside of me once more. I silently scold myself for it. "No, no, there isn't," I lie.

"Oh, okay," Percy says, his tone unsure.

"So..." I wonder if I should bring up the time when Percy and I had held hands. I decide not to, it can wait. I don't want to make things weird at the moment. "I should invite Brody to her party?"

I hear the smile in Percy's voice, "Yeah, sure, go ahead."

The two of us are silent once more, and this time, as I listen to Percy's breathing pattern, I don't comment on it.

Then, I hear Sophie's voice faintly on the other end. Percy answers, his voice also faint, and I can tell he's angled away from the phone at the moment. Then, I hear the phone move along something and Percy's voice fills the phone once again,

"Hey, Annabeth, I got to go. Sophie's bedtime is coming up," He adds.

I smile, "Goodnight, Percy. Tell Sophie goodnight from me too."

"Sure, will do. Take care, Chase."

"You too, Jackson," I grin.

Then, the two of us hang up.

* * *

With the present tucked underneath my armpit, I raise my other hand to knock on the apartment door. Brody shuffles his feet nervously from beside me and I turn to look down at him,

"Nervous?"

Brody shrugs, "I am just worried. What if Sophie doesn't like my present?" He asks, his voice showing his distinct worry.

"I'm sure she'll love it," I reassure him.

Brody claps both of his hands together, "I hope so. Thank you. About the Barbie advice."

I stifle a laugh, "Don't worry about it. I just didn't want you to make the mistake of getting Sophie a Barbie. She's not the Barbie type of girl."

Brody nods, straightening the collar of his green shirt.

The door slams open, startling both Brody and I. The two of us take alarmingly fast steps back, to avoid getting killed by the door.

Standing in the open doorway, with a massive grin on his face, is Percy.

"Annabeth!" He cheers, throwing his arms around me, wrapping me up in a tight hug.

"Hello, Annabeth," Sophie chirps, appearing at Percy's side, her green eyes showing her clear happiness. She looks up at me, an angelic smile on her lips. Then, she looks over at Brody, who's absolutely beet red.

"Happy birthday, Sophie," Brody says shyly. Then, he thrusts out his present for her. Sophie smiles over at him which just makes Brody blush even harder.

"Thank you, Brody," She gestures politely for him to enter the apartment. Brody does so, casting a happy glance towards me. Sophie and Brody then disappear into the apartment.

Percy, meanwhile, is still hugging me.

"Ah, okay, Percy," I stammer. "Hi."

Percy laughs and releases me from the hug, his green eyes sparkling. "I'm glad you're here, Chase," He says.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world, not for Sophie," I state, "Or you, for that matter."

I can't help but smirk at Percy's reaction to that. He blinks, startled, before reddening.

"Percy, dear, who's at the door?"

A woman appears at Percy's side. I take a closer look at her. I can see that her hair was once a vivid, beautiful shade of brown, but now it is graying. Her soft blue eyes hold the same kindness and affection that Percy shares, and I instantly know that she's his mother.

"Hi, Mrs. Jackson," I hold out my hand and she takes it, "Pleased to meet you. I'm -"

"Annabeth Chase," She finishes for me, a cheeky smile spreading across her face. "I've heard a lot about you."

I cast a swift sideways glance towards Percy and he smirks at me. I turn back to his mother, "All good, I hope."

She nods, laughing lightly, then gestures for me to enter. I do so, beginning to shrug off my jacket. Then, I feel Percy's hands on it, which startle me for a moment, before I realize that he's taking it off for me. I let him and I thank him with a smile. He just flashes me an easy grin and shuts the door close behind him with his foot.

In the apartment, a group of kids are surrounding Sophie on the floor. There is also a pile of presents on a small, round table in the corner which is quite big. On the couch, Rachel sits there, relaxed, a smile upon her face. When she sees me, her eyes light up.

"Annabeth, hey! I had a feeling you'd be here," She gestures for me to come over, patting the empty spot beside her.

"Hi, Rachel. Nice to see you again," I say, plopping down beside her. Rachel smiles warmly at me and I clear my throat, "What made you think I'd come here?"

Rachel shrugs, "Well, Sophie has been talking quite a lot about you. You've become important to her."

"I have?" I ask, surprised. Rachel laughs lightly at me.

"Yes, you have."

I blink, quite stunned. Then, Percy slams down on the couch beside me. Then, he snakes an arm around my shoulders, which make butterflies reappear in my stomach. Rachel raises an eyebrow, her lips beginning to quirk up in a smile. Percy sees her reaction and I watch him redden and immediately retract his arm from around me. I wonder if I'm blushing as well, I probably am.

"Hm, Percy, how come you haven't mentioned this to me?" Rachel demands, her tone amused. Percy blushes fiercely.

"What do you mean?" Percy squeaks, his face flushed beet red.

Rachel rolls her eyes, "You never told me you two were dating! About time, Percy."

Percy sighs, "We aren't dating, Rachel," He tells her. Rachel looks at the two of us, her eyes showing her obvious confusion.

"What? Why?" She asks, innocently. Percy and I stare at her, currently at a loss of what to say.

"Uh... Because we aren't," Percy manages to choke out.

Rachel purses her lips, shaking her head. "Percy, Percy, you've got to start seeing people! You haven't dated since... Since we divorced, right?"

Well, that was news to me. I can't help but gape at Percy this time. He shrugs when he sees my response.

"What?"

"You haven't dated in..." I quickly do the math in my head, "Two years?" I splutter in disbelief.

Percy nods, "I haven't found anyone else I'd like to date."

Rachel cuts in, "You got my hopes up, Percy. When you put your arm around Annabeth, I actually thought you were in a relationship!"

Percy rolls his eyes, "And you've only been on... Two dates. You're one to talk."

"Hey," Rachel defends, "Two is more than zero. By two."

Percy snorts, "That doesn't make any sense."

"Yes, it does, genius."

I can't help but snicker at that. Percy nudges me in the side, annoyed.

"Oh, stuff it, Chase," He mutters quietly, so only I can hear. I just laugh in return.

"So, Annabeth, if Percy and you aren't in a relationship, are you with some other guy?"

I shake my head, "Uh, no. Not really."

Rachel raises an eyebrow, "'Not really'," She repeats, "What do you mean by that?"

Then, she perks up, "Ooh, there's someone on your radar, isn't there?"

I become mighty aware of Percy's presence. I feel the heat start to rise within me, "Uh..."

"Rachel," Percy intervenes, "You're making Annabeth feel uncomfortable."

Rachel's smile fades and I see her become suitably bashful.

"Nah, nah, its fine," I tell her. "I just... I don't know what to say."

Rachel smiles, "Sorry, we barely know each other."

"Uh, yeah..." Is all I can think of to say. I change the subject swiftly.

"Where's Sophie's grandparents? I mean, besides Mrs. Jackson," I ask.

Percy's eyes become darker, "My dad couldn't make it."

"My parents couldn't make it either," Rachel states, her voice also dropping into a gloomy tone.

"Oh. I see," I say awkwardly. I look around the apartment, and see Mrs. Jackson hovering in the kitchen. "Does your mother need any help?" I ask politely.

Percy looks over there, his gaze softening. "I'm not sure. She's finishing up the cake, I know that much. Ooh, you have got to have dinner at her place one day!" Percy moves over on the couch, his attention riveted on me, his green eyes sparkling with excitement. "Trust me, she is the best cooker in the world!"

I grin, "I don't doubt it."

"Good," Percy beams.

I turn to Rachel to talk to her again, but just then, her phone begins ringing. She stares at it blankly for a few seconds, before shaking herself and answering the call. She places the phone to her ear and begins talking. I turn back to Percy again, to talk to him. I don't want to just stare awkwardly at Rachel, waiting for her to end the call. That would be creepy.

"So... I, uh, never asked this, but did you enjoy the movie?" Percy asks, looking quite shy for some reason.

"Yes, I did. It was a very fun, nice movie," I say honestly. Partly thinking about Percy and I holding hands.

Percy grins, looking a bit nervous, "Uh, would you like to do that again, sometime? You know, just the two of us?"

I try to keep calm and ignore the way my stomach is beginning to perform a freaking dance routine. Yep, that's how nervous I was. "I'd love to," Is all I can manage to say without my voice going squeaky high at the moment.

"Great!" Percy stammers, smiling widely.

The two of us turn to look over at Rachel, and see that she's done with the phone call. She is just looking at the two of us with a pleased smirk.

"Ah, Percy. Finally followed my advice, huh?"

Percy blushes, "Be quiet, RED."

Rachel rolls her eyes, "Gosh. I thought you'd stopped calling me that ages ago!"

Percy snorts, "In your dreams."

Rachel laughs, "I'll have you know, none of my dreams involve you."

Percy places a hand over his heart, mocking a pained look. "What?" He whispers quietly, a joking glint in his eyes, "I thought... I thought you loved me." He chokes on his last words.

Rachel throws back her head in laughter, I can't help but giggle at Percy.

Then, Mrs. Jackson's voice carries from the kitchen to our ears.

"Who wants some cake?"

A massive chorus of cheers and claps come from the group of children. Rachel, Percy, and I exchange amused glances before standing up to join the group of children now standing around Mrs. Jackson.

When we approach them, I see Mrs. Jackson begin to light the candles on the cake, a happy smile on her kind face. Seriously. Her face was kind, even her eyes showed her kindness.

After we sing the 'Happy birthday' song, and Sophie is completely red by the end of it. I can't help but smile as Sophie eagerly blows out the candles and the children cheer.

"Happy birthday, pirate," I hear Percy say as he picks Sophie up from the ground and kisses her cheek.

"Ah!" Sophie giggles, "Put me down, Daddy!"

Percy chuckles, but does as she says. Mrs. Jackson cuts the first piece of the cake, places it on a plate, and passes it to the beaming Sophie.

"Thank you, grand-mummy," She says politely. Mrs. Jackson smiles warmly and continues cutting up the cake. Soon, everyone has been fed with cake. Percy and I are just lazily relaxing on the couch, full up with cake. It had been a delicious cake. Chocolate cake - Sophie's favorite - with tasty icing bordering the sides. Then, the design of the cake was absolutely spectacular. Mrs. Jackson had made an icing design on the main part that showed two pirates fighting. A full grown man with a cutlass and an eye-patch wearing the full outfit. And a little girl with fiery red hair with a massive pirate hat waving another cutlass at the man. I couldn't help but smile when I saw that.

"Hm, didn't that cake design remind you of something, Percy?" I couldn't help but ask as he slumped deeper into the couch. I hear Percy give a muffled laugh.

"You bet it did!" Percy said.

The two of us sit in silence, relaxed without a care in the world. Then, my phone begins to ring. Percy moves his head to give me a look as I answer the phone.

"Hello, Annabeth Chase here," I say automatically.

"Hey... Its me!"

I sigh, shaking my head fondly, "Hi, Connor. What's going on?"

"Its five. Just wanted to give you a head's up that Brody's got be back at home no later than five forty-five," Connor explains.

"Ah, I see," I chew my lower lip. "Well, your warning is heeded, don't worry. I'll bring your son back home in time."

Connor laughs, "You better, Annabeth."

Then, he hangs up, and I place my phone back in my pocket. I look over at Percy who's casually sprawled out on the other side of the couch. He shoots me a lazy grin when he meets my gaze.

"So, I guess you gotta be going soon?"

"Yeah, pretty much." I gather up my courage and scoot nearer to him, much to Percy's surprise. I even see him blink rapidly at me when I move closer. Then, I watch his cheeks begin to color.

"Uh, Annabeth?" He asks after a brief silence. I look over at him, giving him my full attention.

"Yeah?"

Percy gulps nervously, "Uh, I just wanted to talk to you about that movie we saw. I mean - not the movie! I mean... Well, I wanted to talk to you about what happened between us _during_ the movie."

I try my hardest not to turn as red as a tomato. I resist the urge to break my gaze as I say, "Sure."

Percy licks his lips, a nervous habit of his, his eyes darting side from side. "Uh. When you took my hand -"

"I'm back!" Rachel slams open the door, her face flushed pale white. I shoot a brief sideways glance at Percy, wanting him to continue, but he clamps his open mouth shut. When our eyes connect, I see a flicker of disappointment in them, before he turns his head to look over at Rachel who's currently being hugged by Sophie.

"Uh," I try to get his attention back, "What were you about to say?" I ask, trying to sound innocent and casual instead of sounding needy and desperate.

Percy purses his lips and shrugs. I raise an eyebrow at this but don't press the subject.

"I'm so sorry I had to miss some of your birthday," Rachel whispers softly to Sophie, just loud enough so that I can hear. Well, then its not really whispering then, but oh well.

"At least you came back in the end," Sophie responds.

I get up off the couch and I smile at Percy, "I better be going now. Connor is scary when he gets scared, which is weird..."

Percy chuckles lightly, "Okay, Annabeth." He stands up beside me and wraps me up in hug. We stay like that much longer than necessary but I don't mind it at all, to be honest.

Finally, I get the nerve to step back out of the hug. Percy grins at me as I walk backwards from him, keeping eye-contact.

"Wow, Chase, that looks..."

I roll my eyes and turn around. I hear Percy laugh and I can't help but smile.

"Brody, its time to go now."

* * *

As I get into my car, after dropping Brody off, my phone starts to ring. I click the answer button and place my phone to my ears.

"Annabeth Chase."

"Percy Jackson," Percy snickers, mockingly.

I sigh, but I can't resist the grin that comes onto my face. "What's up, Jackson?"

* * *

**Author's Note: I apologize for the long wait you guys :( I just couldn't find the time to work on it, sorry. So when I finally finished it, I just posted it because I didn't want you guys to wait any longer. I'm sorry if there are any typos up in there. **

**Anyway, have any of you heard Shane Koyczan's To This Day project? Its absolutely beautiful, in my opinion. Oh and... Darn! I couldn't see the Castle finale for season five yesterday -.- But, I'll be sure to watch it online :p**

**Oh and if any of you watch Glee, what did you think about the last episode? Gosh, I was absolutely shell-shocked when the person who was catfishing Ryder introduced themselves. Oops, spoiler. Sorry. Pretend you didn't read that lol. SO, what did you think of this chapter? Was it good? Bad? Anyways, please follow if you would like to see more of this, favorite if you are really _really _enjoying it so far, and review if you'd like to :)  
**

**Until next time, take care ;-D**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine - Constellations and Talks

**Disclaimer - I don't own PJO or HoO, Rick Riordan does. I also don't own any of Elvis Presley's music ;-D**

**Thanks to kelseyPJHP1997, SallaScaramouche, Alison daughter of Poseidon, WingDawn98, alextremo147, Daughter of the Lake, lileverlark, Alexandra Jackson rocks Hades, Bookluver132, tojieisnoob, Mexican-Greek-Girl, GlenCoco135, CallaLloyd, dkwolverine12, beautifulshipofblueandgrey, littlemisslaugh, Sophie6132, Emchmi999, mbradley, trio-of-friends, XxbethamphetaminexX, Sam-DaughterOfPosiedon, PercyandAnnabeth4eva, Em (Guest), heartdraconis19361, StarryNights04, PercyJackson is SeaweedBrain, (Guest), Raspberriee Kisses, LongLiveLaughter, August1999, ForTheGloryOfSparta, DragonClan, PurpleQueen981, foreverfanfiction, Shandia99, allen r, percythepanda, Wisdomsdaughter2, hairnets22 (Guest), and all the Guests!**

**Anonymous review replies:**

**Em - Thanks**, **glad you think so :D**

**Guest who said 'AMAZING CHAPTER:)! Pls update soon)!' - Thanks :) I'm sorry I updated so late... But here it is, and I hope you enjoy if you read this!  
**

**Guest who said 'Why did you end it like that! I wanted to find out what they were going to say :-( Please update soon.' - xD Well... I hope this chapter gives a hint to what Percy and Annabeth spoke about :p Sorry I updated late, but I hope you enjoy it anyways :)**

** - Thanks for the compliment :) It means a lot because I'm not as good as the other writers on this site. Haha, as for your question, you'll have to find out ;-D Hope you like this chapter!**

**Guest who said 'I am do glad you updated! I really enjoyed the chapter ( : Have a great day and thank you for writing!' - Thanks, I'm happy you enjoyed :D Thanks, have a good day as well and no problem ;-D**

**Guest who said 'Loved the story :) please update soooon :)' - Well, here you go :) I hope you enjoy and thank you for reading!**

**hairnets22 - Thanks, and here's the update! I hope you enjoy if you read this!**

**Summary - There were many ways Annabeth Chase imagined that she'd meet her soulmate. Spilling her coffee on him certainly wasn't the way. She also didn't expect her soulmate to be such an idiot - a Seaweed Brain, in fact. Neither did she expect her soulmate to have a daughter.**

**QUICK AUTHOR'S NOTE - Sorry for the long wait, _really_! I proofread this quickly and I hope there's not a whole ton of typos, but if there are, please let me know and I'll swoop in to save the day ;-D (Lol, that was cheesy :p)  
**

**I hope you all enjoy -**

* * *

"Are you sure I look fine?"

Katie rolls her eyes for probably the thousandth time, exasperated. "Okay, Annie," She sighs, "Would I _ever_ lie to you? You don't have to ask me every single moment!"

I bite back a retort, feeling suitably abashed. "Sorry," I mumble sheepishly.

"Its fine," Katie purses her lips, "You really like this guy... Percy, don't you?"

I chew my lower lip as I think of a careful answer to give my friend. "Well," I clear my throat, "I do... Like spending time with him. And... Uh... I don't know."

Katie stares at me, her expression unreadable.

"What?" I ask, feeling unsettled by her steady gaze.

Katie doesn't answer right away, but just continues staring for a couple more seconds, before speaking. "Annie," She coughs lightly. "I just don't want you to turn into that girl you were when you were with Luke," She admits.

I narrow my eyes, but Katie rushes on.

"I don't... I don't want you to forget about me and the rest of us, your friends. I also don't want you get hurt again, I don't want you to rush into this new... Relationship with Percy."

I manage a tiny smile, "I'm a big girl, Katie, and big girls don't cry."

Katie snorts, but sobers up quickly. "Please, Annabeth?"

"Katie, you don't need to worry. Percy _isn't_ like Luke," I add.

Katie gives me a tiny smile.

* * *

"_Whoa_! You look... _Great_!" Percy stammers, his eyes gleaming brightly, his cheeks red.

"Thanks," I manage to say, my voice a pitch higher than usual. Percy licks his lips nervously, shifting his weight from one side to another.

"So... Uh, wanna get going?"

Katie appears at my side, her purse in her hand and her sweater on. Percy and I turn our heads to look at her.

"Oh, your date is here?" Katie realizes belatedly.

I nod, feeling my cheeks redden even more so. _Never_ would I have thought that Percy and I would be on a date! Funny how things turned out.

Katie meets my gaze and I see a smirk begin to form on her lips.

"Oh, sorry, you two," She turns to Percy giving him a cheeky once-over that makes my stomach flip nervously and my face flush. Percy just stares at her blankly, his mouth hanging open in confusion. "Catch you later, Annie, and don't worry - you look _great_!" She waves at me before bouncing past and into the hallway, heading towards the elevator.

"Uh," Percy starts chuckling, "That was... Cool."

I raise an eyebrow, "Cool? How so?"

Percy smiles, "You asked for help?"

I try my hardest not to turn even redder, "Yeah, so? I wanted to look nice... For you."

Percy grins at me, making me feel warm and cozy inside. "Don't worry," He says, taking a step closer to me, holding out a hand, "You _always_ look lovely."

I feel quite delighted at his compliment and I resist the urge to blush even more. "Uh," I feel my tongue slip over my next words rather stupidly, "Thank you, Percy."

Percy winks at me, "Anytime, Chase."

I smile and take his hand.

* * *

When the two of us get into the car and buckle our seatbelts, I finally speak, breaking the silence, "So, where are we going?"

Percy grins at me, and I stupidly discover that he's been wearing a simple blue checkered collared shirt, with khakis that look surprisingly good on him. I look at my own outfit, and I'm pleased to note that I don't look that overdressed, just wearing nice jeans and a white shirt with my inherited owl necklace.

"Its a surprise," Percy says, revving up the engine.

"Luckily, I've liked that one surprise you've given both Sophie and I. It was actually quite good," I say.

Percy beams, "I'm glad you think so. I hope you'll like this one."

The two of us are silent. To be honest, I still can't believe that I'm on a date with Percy Jackson. A guy I've met only about a month and a half ago, yet he's become quite a good friend to me. I wonder if he likes me _more_ than a friend.

_Of course he does, you dolt! Why else would he ask you out?_ I roll my eyes at that silly little thought and focus on Percy, who's concentrating on the road ahead, his fingers tapping the wheel in rhythm.

"Nice little beat you got there," I remark, amused. Percy looks over at me, his cheeks reddening slightly and he stops his tapping.

"Sorry," He mumbles.

"Its fine," I shrug, "I sometimes do stuff like that. Part of my ADHD."

Percy blinks, startled, nearly hitting a car a few meters ahead of him. "You're ADHD?" He asks, sounding astonished.

"Uh, you better watch the road," I warn. "And yeah... I'm ADHD."

Percy swallows, "I'm ADHD, too." He admits. "Sorry I didn't tell you earlier."

I shrug, "Its fine," I say, gently, "I didn't tell you either, sorry."

Percy smiles, "Its fine." He pauses, and at the same time the two of us say,

"I'm also dyslexic."

The two of us look at each other, two matching smiles spreading across each of our faces.

"We've got a _lot_ more in common than I thought," Percy notes, as I grin.

"Yeah, we do."

There is a brief moment of silence before Percy says, "Would you like for me to turn on the radio?"

"Sure, I'd love to listen to some music."

That's when a wicked grin arrives on Percy's lips. "Huh," He murmurs, smirking, "I could sing for you. You could get a live performance right here, Chase!"

I stare at him, raising an eyebrow in disbelief, "Are you _serious_?"

Percy frowns, but the light in his eyes don't fade, "Hm?"

"I've heard you sing before, Percy," I remind. "And I don't _ever_ want to hear you sing, again."

Percy gasps, and slams his hand onto his chest, "Excuse me?" He squeaks, offended.

I sigh, "Percy, you are quite the charmer, I must say. Singing, however, is _not_ a talent of your's."

Percy shakes his head, "Its because you haven't heard me go solo, without any background music or other stuff! You haven't heard my real voice. Its natural, smooth... Rich." He adds.

I look at him, giving him a silent signal, Percy meets my gaze swiftly before turning his attention back to the road.

"We can't go on together!" Percy sings, his voice strained as he tries to reach a note. "With suspicious minds! We can't build our dreams... On suspicious minds..." Percy's voice fades softer and softer, and I do my best to restrain myself from commenting too soon.

Percy shoots me a look. "Well?" He presses, looking eager.

I cough delicately, "It wasn't... _Bad_."

Percy smirks, "Of course it wasn't."

I continue on, "But it wasn't the... _Best_."

Percy freezes, nearly slamming into a tree on the side of the road. "What?"

I can't help but laugh. Percy is silent before I see a slight smile begin to appear on his face.

* * *

Percy and I spend the rest of the drive talking and when Percy finally parks the car, I am surprised to see that we are not far from a hill, but it seems to be the only thing in sight. Well, besides from the bright stars up above. The two of us get out of the car and the first thing that pops out from my mouth is,

"Wow."

Percy looks at me, his eyebrows knotting together, "Uh. Do you not like it here?" He asks, nervously twiddling his thumbs.

I shake my head, unable to restrain the tiny laugh that exits my mouth. "I do, I do," I soothe, "Its just... _Wow_," I look up at the night sky.

I see Percy follow my gaze through the corner of my eyes and watch his face light up, "Yeah, its gorgeous, isn't it?"

"It is," I agree, looking down from the sky and back to Percy. Percy smiles and meets my eyes, his green ones twinkling boyishly as he locks the car with his keys. Then, he holds out a hand for me. I take it and let him pull me towards the hill. The two of us continue to walk in silence, well, in my case, being pulled, until Percy stops at the foot of the hill.

He turns to face me and I see an apology shining in his eyes for some strange reason. "Uh, sorry, Annabeth," He mumbles, looking embarrassed, "But, do you mind eating afterwards? I've got the food in the car."

I roll my eyes, "I don't mind, Percy. Really. Food can wait," I add. "Oh, that was that smell? It was delicious."

Percy grins, "I wish I had that much control over my own stomach, and thanks."

I laugh.

Pretty soon, Percy and I are on top of the hill, sitting side by side, looking up at the stars.

"My mother took me stargazing when I was younger," Percy says after a long, peaceful silence. I look over at him and I see that a fond smile is on his lips. "Every month she took me up here, ever since I turned six. Well, we haven't really gone stargazing since I went to college."

I smile, thinking of a younger Mrs. Jackson and Percy as a boy sitting together looking up at the stars.

"Have you ever made a constellation?" Percy asks, looking over at me, his eyes questioning.

I shake my head, "No. Nobody's ever taken me stargazing before."

Percy's eyes soften.

"I guess you take Sophie out to stargaze now?"

Percy nods, "My mother likes that I'm passing down the 'tradition'." He smiles.

"You're a great father," I tell him.

Percy shrugs, "What makes a great father, in your opinion?"

I think about my answer for quite some time. "Well," I clear my throat, "I think that to be a great father, you have to put your family above all else. You have to respect them and care for them and stick at their sides no matter what comes at you."

Percy's eyes pierce my own and I resist the urge to break our eye contact.

Finally, Percy lays down on the grass, crossing his arms behind his head as he relaxes, staring up at the sky.

"You've never made a constellation before. Do you want to make one now?"

I nod, lying down on my back as well.

"Okay... On three... Let's begin looking for a constellation. Any," Percy offers, his excitement obvious in his voice.

"Alright..." I feel adrenaline begin to surge in me as I prepare myself. Percy beckons for me to cover my eyes and I can't help but stick my tongue out at him quickly, Percy winks at me and he covers his eyes right before I do.

Percy begins counting, the tension hardening his voice. I almost feel giddy at how excited and intense the two of us are. "One," Percy starts, "Two... Three... Go!"

The two of us immediately uncover our eyes and search the sky. I have no idea what I'm looking for, but I do know one constellation, which is Draco.

"_There_!" Percy points up at the night sky and I follow his finger blindly, still not sure what I'm supposed to be looking for. Percy seems to sense my blunt confusion and explains, "Orion the hunter. Look closely at the stars. There's the line of stars that curve inwards on the opposite ends to make his shield, I think. Do you see it?"

I sit up and squint up at the starry sky. Finally, I shake my head in defeat. "No, I don't," I mumble, "Sorry, Percy."

Percy laughs and sits up as well. He gently takes my hand and points it up at the sky, "There," He says softly. "Do you see it now?"

I shake my head, trying to ignore the way the warmth spreads across my face and up into my ears. I hope its too dark for Percy to notice.

"Okay, think bigger. Look at that patch of stars, notice the way the stars glitter. Then, does that certain line of stars catch your eye? Yes, it does. Your eyes follow it until you see that one of the stars connect with another. Your gaze moves along the line until -"

"I see it!" I watch as the stars come to life in my eyes. I see his club raised high in one hand and his shield held up for protection in the other. I watch as the stars make up his feet and in one smooth motion, all the stars seem to move to resemble him clearly, Orion the hunter.

Percy chuckles and I turn my head to laugh in triumph.

"Whoa, that was quite a lot of work!"

Percy beams, "Yes, it is. It pays off in the end, though, doesn't it?"

I nod, looking back up at stars resembling the myth, "Show me another constellation."

Percy smiles, and looks up at the sky once more as he relaxes on his back, crossing his hands over his chest this time. I follow suit and the two of us are silent once again.

"There, the constellation of Pegasus," Percy points out, stretching out his arm and gesturing up at a group of stars. I peer closely at them, I had a vague idea of what the constellation looked like, but I wasn't exactly sure. I am quiet for some time, and become mildly aware of Percy's eyes on me.

Finally, I see it, "I see it! That patch of stars, in the middle of all of them..."

"You're getting good," Percy remarks.

I grin, "I _always_ get good, Jackson. Didn't you learn that by now?"

"You conceited woman."

"Is that the best you can come up with?" I snort.

Percy raises an eyebrow challengingly, "The fact that you aren't coming up with a comeback shows that there is a chance of you not knowing how to reply to that true statement."

"Oh _shut_ up, you egotistical pig."

"Whoa, _nice_ one!"

I roll my eyes.

* * *

"Wow, this is _actually_ pretty good!" I compliment as I take another bite out of one of the sandwiches Percy had prepared for us two.

"Thanks," Percy grins and he reaches into the picnic basket and pulls out some more food. I can't help but stare at the cheesecake that appears from the basket on a round silver platter.

"Sandwiches _and_ cheesecake?" I choke out.

Percy smirks as he sets down the platter. He reaches into the basket once more and pulls out a wrapped up plate which hold quesadillas, "The cheesecake's for dessert, silly!"

"Percy!" I exclaim, "You didn't have to make all this. This is... A lot."

Percy laughs, "Its not all for you, Chase, you know? Some of this food has to go down _my_ belly as well."

I grin and finish up my sandwich.

"Oh yeah, let me go down and get the champagne," Percy gets up and begins racing down the hill towards the car before I can even utter a word.

I gaze back up at the stars as I grab a quesadilla from the whole bunch of them. This had to be the best date I've ever been on, no contest. I mean, I haven't been on tons of dates, but I had no doubt that I would _ever_ forget this one.

The stars shine down on me, along with the round moon. It was truly a sight. I watch as Pegasus and Orion come to life, once more. I see Draco the dragon appear suddenly in the corner of my eyes. As I look at those three constellations, I can't help the smile. What Percy had given me tonight was truly a gift.

"It's beautiful isn't it? The moon and the stars?" Percy's voice appears at my side and I turn my head and see him sitting down beside me, placing the bottle of champagne beside him and two plastic cups. When he sees me look at them I hear him give a tiny laugh, "I didn't want to bring any glasses up here, with my luck I would have probably broken them on my way up here."

I grin, "Of course."

Percy snatches two sandwiches and about three quesadillas and proceeds to eat them fast, yet quietly.

"I used to want to be an astronaut, you know?" Percy says, breaking the silence as the two of us enjoy the view.

"You did?"

"Yeah. I wanted to be one of those lucky people who were given the chance to go into space, to be able to do the things that us 'average' people wouldn't be able to do. To be able to see what the others couldn't," Percy explained, his voice becoming wistful.

"But you became a marine biologist."

I hear the smile in his voice, "Yeah, I did. My astronaut dream lasted for a few years, until my mother and I decided to sign me up for a diving certification."

I break my gaze from the stars to look at Percy, who's looking up at the sky with a boyish wonder glinting in his eyes.

"After I got certified and I went on my first '_real_' dive, I guess you could say that I had truly fallen head over heels in _love_ with the ocean life by then."

I smile.

"That's when I decided that I didn't want to be a astronaut any more. Sure, it would have been absolutely wonderful and worthwhile to become one, but then I realized that there were so much more wonders than space. There's amazing things everywhere. The constellations in the sky, for example."

Percy turns his gaze away from the sky and looks at me, a soft smile on his face.

"What did you want to be when you were a child? You must have had some other dream besides becoming an architect," Percy adds.

I think about it. I had wanted to become one of Santa's elves in one point of my childhood, but there was no way I was ever going to tell Percy that. I would never hear the end of it.

"I don't know. I wanted miracles, but I didn't really want to be anything else besides an architect."

"_Miracles_?" Percy asks.

I nod, feeling uncomfortable, "Yeah, I did. I wanted the impossible to happen."

Percy is quiet for a few seconds, then finally he asks, "_Why_?"

I purse my lips, "My mother and father... They fought a lot. My dad put his work first and my mother put her work first. The only times we would ever talk as a family was during dinner, and even that didn't last long."

Percy's eyes pierce my own as I continue on,

"I can't even _count_ the times I wished that one day they would wake up and kiss me good morning instead of just say a brief goodbye," I manage to say, and its the truth. I don't want Percy to feel sorry for me, I just want him to know, "One day, my mother and father had a fight. I don't know what it was about, but they divorced. They got shared custody, I stayed with my mother during the summer, and with my dad during the school year. My father soon remarried. She's nice and all, but I can't help wishing that she was my real mother at times."

I see Percy swallow and then, he reaches out his hand and places it over my own and squeezes it gently.

"My mother and I patched things up, I guess we're a lot closer now. We both work at the same firm, and she... Well, we _at_ _least_ talk more now," I offer.

Percy doesn't let go of my hand, instead he just squeezes it once more. I do the same, slipping my fingers between his. The two of us continue looking at each other, neither of us breaking the silence. Finally, Percy clears his throat.

"My father left my mother. I don't know when, though. I've seen his picture on my mom's dresser, but I have no memory of ever seeing it with my own eyes," Percy states quietly.

"That... That must've sucked."

Percy chuckles dryly, "It still sucks. I don't think my dad was ever cut out to be a parent. _Maybe_ he was one of those guys who hate responsibilities as big as children."

"Maybe, but you don't know the _real_ reason, do you?"

Percy pauses, "No, I don't."

I lean into his side, and I hear Percy suck in a shaky breath and I feel a tiny rush of pride that I made him take that shaky breath.

"Hey... You know what?" Percy clears his throat weakly, "We make pretty good soulmates."

I laugh, "_Soulmates_? Are we dating now?"

I see Percy lick his lips nervously, "Only... Only if _you'd_ like to."

I don't have a chance to respond to that, as my tongue suddenly feels floppy and my brain goes blank.

"Uh... Soulmates... Well... They don't have to be romantic unless you'd want them to be," Percy stammers, "I mean. Soulmates can be best _friends_! Like we are, right?"

I shrug, feeling the familiar warmth of a blush spread across my cheeks and face. "I suppose," I mumble, feeling shy.

Percy gives a weak chuckle, and I know that he's as shy as I am right now.

"Uh... Do you... Want us to be... Romantic soulmates?" I dare to ask.

Percy is silent for a few moments, deep in thought, "Yes, I would, but its your call."

* * *

**Author's Note: So... I'll start off with saying/writing that I no absolutely nothing about constellations. I mean, I do, but I don't know if you can see them _anywhere _and _everywhere _in the world, so I apologize if that absolutely sucked. Anyways... I hope you enjoyed and I'm sorry for the long wait.**

**Anyway... How've you all been? I hope you've all been good, and if you haven't... Well, I'll just say that I'm here to talk to. (Sorry if that sounds super stalkerish or whatever xD) **

**Ah, I recently played this game called _To The Moon_. Let me just say that it completely changed me. I don't know how, but it did :) The story was absolutely amazing, and I must say that it deserved all the awards it had gotten. The music was amazing, Kan Gao is really a genius ;-D The game really hit a part of me emotionally, because it's hinted than one of the characters in the game has Aspergers, and someone very close to me has it as well. I think that I learned much more about it and I want to thank the people who all recommended it to me :)**

**I hope you all enjoyed and have a good day/night :) I'll try to update ASAP.**

**So until next time, take care ;-D**


	10. Author's Note - Hiatus

Author's Note:

Hey, guys... I really hate doing author's notes for a chapter but I just want to say that I am on hiatus during the summer. I will be back around the end of August so I can update this story. I love seeing those messages in those inbox saying that I've gotten new favorites, followers, and reviews and I want you all to know that I love all of you guys for doing that. I really like seeing that you guys are enjoying this fanfic :D

So have a great summer and until then, take care and be safe!


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten - Beach

**Disclaimer - I don't own PJO or HoO, Rick Riordan does.**

**Thanks to Gallifrey Dweller(btw, love your name! do you watch doctor who?), Shawty308, tiffanyxoxo, seaweedhunter, Marethyu17, MidnightBoredom, MiraSaya16, ecerzlem, WallflowerWeasley, bballandpercyluver, rockinflower101, pineconeface666, greekgeek25, venomking6x2, , Anamika3468, skprettygirl, Hardee97, imbetterthanyou239, XxxXGreek GeekXxxX, Alice (Guest), julilivingston8, zebra10126, .j, ZoeChase, PurpleQueen981, midnight luna18, WiseGirlRocks, DaughterOfAphrodite0724, Fallen Emo Angel, sadiekanetheevilmarshmallow, Girl 39, PJatO96, . .UNIVERSE, resusin, inv2, .Shipper, iloveebooks1234 and all the guests!**

******Anonymous review replies:**

**Guest L - Thanks! ;-D This chapter gives Annabeth's answer to that question. I hope you enjoy if you read :)**

**Guest who said 'Well, I don't know anything about constellations either, unless you call discovering your own constellations in Animal Crossing knowing things about constellations. So, to me, it doesn't really matter if that part was inaccurate.' - Ha, okay then! I shouldn't have worried that much about the constellations, you guys were pretty nice about it when explaining it :D Thanks for reviewing. **

**emily - Haha, I so agree! I didn't mean for them both to turn out awkward and shy around each other, but that's how it sort of turned out xD.**

**Guest who said 'Wait, so this hiatus is only for the summer? I can totally get that. I wouldn't want to be writing in the summer either, but during school I would. I hope this is updated soon though, because I really like this story and you stopped at a terrible time.' - Yep, and I'm back earlier than I'd anticipated. Thanks for understanding, and I apologize for leaving you all hanging. Here's the update though, and if you read this I hope you enjoy!**

**Alice - Sophie reminds you of your cousin? Heh, lucky xD**

**Guest who said 'i'm loving dis please update soon and a lot!' - Well here's the update, i hope you enjoy this chapter as well :) **

**Summary - There were many ways Annabeth Chase imagined that she'd meet her soulmate. Spilling her coffee on him certainly wasn't the way. She also didn't expect her soulmate to be such an idiot - a Seaweed Brain, in fact. Neither did she expect her soulmate to have a daughter.**

**R.I.P. Cory Monteith :(**

* * *

"So, you're a strawberry fan?" Percy asks, after I take a long sip of my milkshake. A strawberry milkshake, in fact.

I nod. "Yep," I confirm. "Strawberries are the best."

Percy snorts. "Sure, strawberries are good and all, but come on - Haven't you ever had _blueberries_?" He demands, playfulness in his voice.

I roll my eyes. "I have in fact, but isn't everyone allowed to have their own opinion?"

Percy sets his jaw, the stubborn determination that he has become so acquainted with lately appears once again - without fail - in his eyes. "Tell you what, when you get a slice of my mom's blueberry pie, you are _so_ going to wish you haven't wasted your time with your strawberries."

I smirk. "Sure."

Percy grins, looking triumphant, until he realizes that my tone had been full and dripping with sarcasm. He narrows his eyes at me.

"You know, sarcasm is the lowest form of wit," He quotes.

"Is that honestly the best you've got, Jackson?" I shoot back, a bit amused.

Percy pauses, obviously searching for a comeback in that tiny little head of his. While he thinks, he takes a sip of his blueberry milkshake. After a few more moments of silence, I snap my fingers in front of his face.

"Hello? Earth to Percy..." I sigh.

Percy blinks out of his stupor and shakes himself before clearing his throat. "You have got to be the _most_ infuriating woman on this _planet_!" He exclaims loudly, attracting the attention of the nearby people sitting around us at the little cafe.

I resist the urge to laugh in his face. "Percy," I chide gently, "You know that you're only saying that because I've won this round? Honestly, come on, do you think that you are as smart as me?"

He glares at me, his green eyes calculating. Finally, he sticks out his tongue at me and makes farting noises with his mouth rather creatively.

"Wow, wow, _real_ mature, Jackson." I stare him down, unamused.

"You got to get your ego deflated a bit, Chase," He shoots back, his green eyes suddenly becoming darker.

I smirk. "I'll get to that as soon as you learn that I always win."

Percy shakes his head.

"Want to go out to the beach now?" I look at Percy, hopefully. He eyes me, warily, his expression unreadable.

After the brief, yet tense, silence stretches for about a few more moments, he finally speaks, "You are wearing a bikini under that?"

His expression is full of such longing, that I can't help but blush a bit.

"You'll find out as soon as we get to swim."

Percy gulps audibly. "Uh... We... Swim... Um... Lets finish the milkshakes first!"

I try my best to hide my amusement at his lack of control back there.

"Right, milkshakes first," I agree.

Only when Percy ducks down to finish up the rest of his blueberry shake, do I let a ghost of a grin appear on my face.

* * *

We walk out of the cafe and onto the sandy beach waiting just outside. Rachel had offered quickly to hang out with Sophie for the day, when Percy had told her that we were going to the beach today. I could tell by the happiness practically radiating off of Rachel that she was absolutely even more overjoyed to get another chance at seeing Sophie again. Just by herself, this time.

Sometimes, I wondered what was the arrangement between both Percy and her regarding Sophie. I mean, did they have shared custody or something? They probably did, but I didn't confirm that suspicion yet.

"What are you thinking about?" Percy's voice breaks into my thoughts.

"Hmm?" I casually sit down onto the sand, the water just reaching my feet as the tide comes.

Percy plops down comfortably beside me, causing some of the sand to fly up in the air.

"I can tell you are thinking about stuff. So, what are you thinking about?" Percy repeats, gently nudging me in the side with his elbow.

I look over at him. He looks really nice today, with his navy blue swim trunks and simple white cotton shirt. I wondered distractedly if Percy was going to swim shirtless.

"Hey! Are you checking me out?" Percy asks loudly, his eyes twinkiling.

Unfortunately, his loud voice once again attracts the attention of the other people on the beach around us. They throw us both curious looks, some of them with a hint of amusement, and some of them with a hint of annoyance.

"Percy!" I hiss, feeling my cheeks heat up. Did I just break the record for turning red in the shortest amount of time?

"Come on, tell me!" He whines, lowering his voice, but his green eyes still sparkling with that adorable humor.

I groan. "_Shut_. _Up_."

Percy smirks arrogantly. "That wasn't a no."

"Fine. What if I _was_ checking you out?"

"Is that a yes?"

"No. It was a question, idiot."

"Well, in that case I'd be thrilled."

"And if I wasn't?"

"Then, obviously, I"d be greatly disappointed."

"Really?"

"Really," Percy confirms.

"Great, then I wasn't checking you out. Don't flatter yourself."

Percy puts a hand on the right side of his chest. "You've just broke my heart, Chase!"

"Your heart isn't on the right side, you know?" I snort at my friend in amusement.

Percy blushes fiercely. "Right, I forgot."

The two of us settle in a comfortable silence, staring out at the ocean before us. Not that many kids are here on the beach, probably because its quite a bit late now. Not very dark, but still late.

"The view's great, isn't it?" Percy asks, his tone soft.

I agree. It is quite spectacular.

"Why don't you want to date me?" Percy breaks the comfortable silence. The air around us suddenly feels very tight and tense.

I try to keep my cool as I think of an answer to give.

"Don't think about it, please. Just give me an answer. An _honest_ answer," Percy pleads.

I take a deep breath. Percy did deserve an honest answer, and I would've given it to him anyway.

"I _do_ want to date you," I begin. However, Percy interrupts me.

"Perfect! Then why didn't you say that before?" He asks, confused. I raise up a hand, signaling that I am still in a middle of my sentence. Percy gets the message and shuts up.

"I do want to date you," I repeat, "But you are my _friend_."

Percy scrunches up his eyebrows. "Um, is that a bad thing?"

I laugh, not unkindly. "No, no, its not a bad thing at all! Its just... I don't want our friendship to be ruined if this relationship between us doesn't work," I admit.

"We're friends now, there's not a problem between us," Percy points out blatantly.

I nod. "Exactly, we're friends. You're not my boyfriend, I'm not your girlfriend. What if we did date. Do you think that we would last as much as we'd like to together? I don't want to lose you if something stupid happens in our relationship. Besides, there's Sophie as well."

Percy tenses. "What does Sophie have to do with this? With us and this dating thing?"

I swallow, gathering up my courage. "Sophie, she is _wonderful_. She deserves real parents, I know. She even asked if I was going to be her new mother. If we did date, and we... Broke up, what would go throw Sophie's head then? I don't want to hurt her," I say firmly.

Percy is silent, simply staring at me for very, very long moments. Then, he looks out at the sea. The wind changes its course from blowing sideways, to right towards us. It ruffles through Percy's hair and I suck in a sharp breath as his handsome face are suddenly very much defined. His strong jaw, his perfectly shaped nose and lips, and his amazing sea green eyes stick out to me the most. The thing that strikes me most, however, is the expression on his face: Determination.

"Annabeth, I appreciate that you care for Sophie. I love that, I really do. But, trust me, if we give this dating thing a shot - We _won't_ screw it up," Percy states, his voice strong and unwavering. Another gust of wind flies at us and Percy looks over at me, his eyes softening. "I won't hurt you like Luke did."

My throat constricts and I struggle to get any words out. My eyes tear up a bit. I turn away from Percy as soon as I realize it and hope that he didn't notice it.

Percy doesn't say anything but I feel his warm hand cover mine. I suck in a shaky breath.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be so forward. Its just... Nevermind, I'm sorry." Percy takes his hand off and I blink away my unshed tears before turning back to Percy.

"Its fine," I say gently, my voice sounding distant and sort of dazed. Percy isn't looking at me though, his head's turned the other away.

"Want to go swim?" Percy asks, as the silence between us stretches.

"Sure."

* * *

I dunk Percy's head underwater, shaking my wet hair. Percy shall rue the day he had been born. I scowl. This punishment serves him right for pretending to be a freaking sea monster.

My thoughts are shoved out of my head as Percy grabs my ankle and pulls me under as well.

Agh! I struggle in the water, but Percy holds me down. I know that he isn't going to hold me under long enough that I'll drown. After about ten more seconds of kicking Percy's legs, I resort to the final blow.

He lets go immediately after I kick him in the crown jewels.

I surface and Percy is spluttering in pain.

"Gosh, its been... Ages since anybody touched me there!" He groans. Then, he stiffens after realizing what he'd just said. "Uh, I don't mean the dirty way, heh."

I refuse the childish urge to giggle. "I know."

Percy winces and he straightens up, his green eyes becoming focused on mine.

"Do you know what I'm going to do to you after all the pain you've just put me through?" Percy rasps, his shirtless and dripping form nearing me. I swallow roughly, feeling extremely flustered. The urge to run away is a very good decision, but I am so not going to chicken out of this.

"Uh," I try for the casual and cool response, "No..."

Percy smirks, his green eyes flashing. "Of course you wouldn't." His hands reach towards me and unfortunately, I realize what he's about to do too late.

"No!" I shriek, tears of laughter already escaping my eyes.

Percy laughs evilly as he continues to tickle me. I struggle against him, desperately wanting to escape his tickles that send goosebumps all over my skin. His hot breath hits my ear as he whispers,

"You really shouldn't wear a bikini."

At first I think its an insult and glare at him, trying to ignore the burning and goosebumps all over me because of Percy Jackson's tickles.

"Excuse me?" I demand, trying not to squeak out the words. I honestly thought this bikini looked nice on me. What a blow to my self esteem. However, I couldn't really concentrate on that fact because of the stupid tickles I was recieving. Damn, was this my fatal weakness?

"Its easy access," Percy remarks, a tiny smirk appearing on his lips, "For tickles, you know."

I suck in a sharp breath, trying my hardest to not let myself succumb to laughter. "Shut up."

Percy chuckles and finally - FINALLY - releases me from his grasp and stops tickling me. "I think you've learned your lesson, now."

My face flushed with laughter, the only thing I can think to say to that is simply: "I don't look good in bikinis?"

Percy blinks, obviously confused then he remembers his previous statement. He leans in and looks me up and down, an amused smile playing on his lips.

"I think you look wonderful in a bikini, but you shouldn't wear it again here. Not when we're together," Percy admits.

I try to ignore how fast my heart's beating at hearing Percy's last statement. Nervously, I lick my lips.

"Why?" I demand, hoping my voice wasn't as squeaky as it sounded to my own ears.

Percy is quiet, his face becoming all different shades of red. "Uh... Because..." Percy swallows hard. "I don't like the way other guys look at you in that."

Just then did I realize how close we were. His lips were only a tantalizingly short distance away from mine. I'd only have to stand on my tippy toes and lean forwards and my lips would be right on his.

"Oh. Well, I don't like the way the beach babes around here look at you when you're wearing _that_."

Percy smirks, but its a nervous one. His eyes are on my lips and I have a feeling he'd just been fantasizing what I had a few seconds ago as well.

"What do they look at me like?" Percy asks quietly.

I grin, placing my hands on his bare and wet chest. It feels oddly nice and I resist the urge to jump on him right then and there. "Well, they were looking at you like you were food. Really good food," I add.

Percy cups my cheeks in his hands, pulling me in for the kill. I stand up on my tippy toes and close my eyes, my heart pounding in my chest. I wonder if he could hear it.

Then, the wave crashed over us, sending us tumbling back to shore.

"What the heck?!" I nearly screamed, but it came out as a strangled whisper. Gosh, that freaking massive wave was totally unexpected.

"... Was that a wave?" Percy's voice came from behind me, and I turned to see him and I held back a mix of laughter and amazement.

His black hair was full of sand, yet wind blown and he totally looked delicious even with all that sand on him.

"Um, yeah..."

"Damn."

"I know, right." I took a seat beside him, a bit in a daze. We were about to kiss, I didn't stop myself and neither did he.

"Is the mood gone?" Percy asks, sounding rather unhopeful. I think about it.

"Well, you look undeniably handsome right now, but I don't really feel like jumping you in the middle of all these people right now."

Percy chuckles. "So, you don't like PDA?"

I shake my head.

Percy grins. "So you like to be alone with a guy whenever you two decide to make out, do you?"

I roll my eyes. "Any sane person would."

Percy places a hand on his chest, this time on the right side of it. "When will thou stop hurting me with these words?"

"Shut up."

"Ah, there you go again."

The two of us talk for a bit more, but it seems a bit awkward and tense. Finally, Percy and I notice how late its getting and we head to the changing rooms on the beach after fetching our other clothes from his car.

When we arrive at the changing rooms, Percy waggles his eyebrows, looking a bit suggestive. "Make sure to get off all that sand, Chase, or I might have to help you out."

I glare at him. Percy drops his attitude and quickly runs into the mens washroom. I take a shower and brush off the sand - rather carefully I might add. Gosh, knowing Percy, he'd stick true to his word. As soon as I think of Percy, I remember our almost kiss. Damn, we'd been so close...

But that freaking wave decided to come out of nowhere! I fumed silently.

After I regain my senses, I shake that thought of out my head. That was so not me, I was independent and strong. I didn't need a man by my side, or anyone for that matter. I liked being alone.

… Maybe, though, I didn't really like it anymore. A fantasy popped into my mind - me waking up next to Percy in the morning, exchanging quick kisses goodbye as we departed for our separate jobs. A tiny quiver shakes my body as I realize that Sophie would be part of my new life too. Even if we weren't married and just dating. To be honest, in the short amount of time I knew her, I already knew that she was going to special to me - if she wasn't already, of course.

Deciding that I was taking to long drowning in my thoughts in the shower, I turned off the tap and dried myself off, shaking the water out of my curls. Agh, I was so going to need a brush when I got back home. I changed into my clothes and walked out of the building and back onto the beach. Percy was there, casually leaning against the wall, his swim shorts in the plastic bag in one hand. A blue towel hung over one shoulder, and his white cotton shirt was back on, this time with a pair of pants to go along with it.

"What took you so long, Chase?" Percy asked, exasperated.

I roll my eyes. "Be quiet, Jackson, and take me home."

Percy is quiet, but I can tell he's thinking about something. Hard. "You know... My place is closer to here than yours, and its getting late. So... Do you wanna..."

Percy let the unspoken question hang in the silence shared between us.

I clear my throat, trying hard not to blush. "I appreciate the offer, Percy, but I don't want to intrude into your home."

Percy grinned. "That isn't a no. And also, you aren't an intrusion. I'd love having you there, plus I'm also sure Sophie wouldn't mind as well."

"She's probably sleeping, I might wake her up," I counter.

Percy raises an eyebrow. "You walk really quietly, so don't try that trick on me. Sophie's a heavy sleeper, I doubt you will wake her up." Percy softens, seeing my hesitance. Truthfully, though, I was quite torn between my options. I would really like the company - rather than going home alone, but I was also a bit nervous.

"There's a spare bedroom," Percy adds. "Its comfy, don't worry, tomorrow I'll definitely take you home." His eyes glinted.

I swallow roughly and step up to him. "Definitely?"

Percy reddens, obviously a bit surprised how close I was to him now. He clears his throat and answers calmly, however. "As much as I'd want to, I can't keep you at my place forever."

I step back and walk away from Percy, towards where he'd parked his car, but not before saying, "Don't be so sure. Come on, Jackson."

Percy rushes after me and falls in step.

* * *

When we arrive at his apartment, he unlocks the door and gestures for me to enter first.

"Always the gentleman," I remark as I step inside.

"Nah, its just my charm." Percy shuts the door behind me.

Then, Rachel comes out of a room. She sees the two of us and gives each of us a welcoming smile.

"Hey, you two, I put Sophie to bed about 30 minutes ago. I didn't want to leave her alone, so I stayed." Rachel explains, when Percy sends her a questioning look.

"Oh," Percy says understandingly. "Nice to see you again, I hope you two had fun today."

Rachel smiles. "Oh, we did. Its nice to see her." She glances at her watch, before waving at us as she begins walking to the door. "Its getting late, so I should go now. Goodnight, you two," She adds, before shutting the door behind her.

Percy locks the door before looking over at me.

"Well I'll show you to the guest room, then," He announced.

"Thanks for letting me stay the night," I say fondly, taking a chance and ruffling his hair. He rolls his eyes at me.

"I'm not a dog, Chase, but you're welcome."

He leads me to the room and I follow in silence. As he shows me the room, I contemplate if what I'm about to do. Then, I realize I don't care - That I'd like it.

"Well, goodnight, Annabeth. Sweet dreams," Percy said charmingly.

"Goodnight," I reply easily, leaning up on my toes and planting a kiss on his cheek.

Before I see his reaction I enter the room and shut the door, even if it was a bit cruel. Though, I'd like to believe that that strangled sound I'd heard from Percy was a gasp. Preferably a gasp of pleasant shock.

* * *

**Author's Note: Here's an update, I know I said I'd be back around the end of August, but today I had quite a lot of time on my hands and I decided to post a chapter for all of you. I hope it doesn't disappoint. I apologize if I haven't replied to your reviews :/ It doesn't mean that I don't care about you guys, its just that I am busy. I'll do my best to reply to them all in the future.**

**Btw, what do you think of a short bonus chapter of Sophie and Brody? I've got a cute idea about those two :)**

**Until next time, please take care. **


	12. BONUS CHAPTER - The Playground Promise

BONUS - The Playground Promise

**Disclaimer - I don't own PJO or HoO, Rick Riordan does.**

**Hey! I've got a great quote for all of you today xD **

**- If you don't believe in yourself, no one else will believe in you. Dream Big. Anything is possible.**

**Happy reading :)**

* * *

"Hey, Dad, can I go over there?" I ask.

"Of course you can, Mom and I will wait here."

As soon as he finishes that sentence, I'm out of there, running to the playground as fast as I can.

When I reach the playground, the first thing I go to are the slides, which are not that small.

After I climb up the ladder that leads to the platform of the slides, I come face to face with a girl.

"Sophie!" I squeak, my mouth out of control, feeling my cheeks heat up in that annoying way that they do whenever I am around her. Urgh. Why does my face do that to me?

She blinks, meeting my eyes, obviously a bit surprised to see me here.

"Hi, Brody," She says, smiling at me.

I clear my throat. "Hi," I said, sounding much more casual. Ah, that's good - success! I think of something to say. "Do you want to play with me?" I ask, trying to not sound as shy as I feel.

Sophie nods, looking relieved. "Sure," She says. I can tell that she's happy she's found someone she knows. She is not very shy, I can tell that from school, but sometimes she is. I am pleased to be the one to make her relax, even if its just a tiny bit.

"Lets race down on the slides," I say, grinning. I dive onto the slide and lie flat on my belly. I hear Sophie race behind me on the empty slide beside mine.

When I land, my face is hit with a bunch of sand, which isn't surprising. I hear Sophie giggle as her feet hit the sand. It makes such a different sound compared to landing on your face. Then, I feel a warm hand on my shoulder pulling me up.

As our eyes meet, my face and neck once again does that annoying thing.

"Thanks," I stammer, quickly averting my eyes. I get up on my feet and Sophie shrugs.

"No problem, what next?" She asks.

I scan the playground, thinking of something that would amuse a girl like Sophie. "Uh," I find something that seems decent to me and point to it, "Want to go on the see-saws with me?"

"Sure."

Both of us head towards the seesaw and sit on it. I try not to blush as Sophie sends me that very nice smile as we both go up and down in turn.

"So, did your dad bring you here?" I ask.

Sophie shakes her head. "No, my mom's here," She replies.

"Oh. My parents are over there," I say, simply because I have no idea what else to talk about.

Sophie nods. "What's it like?" She asks suddenly.

I look over at her, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Having both of your parents."

I bite my lip. "You know, just because your parents do not live together anymore, it does not mean that they don't like each other."

Sophie smirks, and I feel as if I've suddenly just ran a marathon. This little girl is making me feel things a man _shouldn't_ feel.

"I know, I've had this talk a bunch of times. Don't worry, I'm made of stern stuff. I won't get teary eyed when you answer."

I manage a smile. "Sorry. Uh... Well, I mean. Nothing special about it, my mom helps me with homework and works as a teacher. My dad works at this store that sells gag gifts with my uncle."

"Do you have any siblings?" Sophie asks.

I shake my head. "Sometimes I hear my parents talking about wanting another kid, they don't want me to be the only child. My mom was the only child and she said that sometimes she got lonely being by herself," I said. "I think I would like a brother."

Sophie laughs, not unkindly, though. "Tell me about your dad's store, please. They sell gag gifts, you said? It must be a bunch of fun when you hang out there."

I grin. "My dad and my uncle make them homemade, sometimes I get to help."

"What type of stuff do they make?"

"Chinese handcuffs, for example."

"Chinese handcuffs?" Sophie raises an eyebrow. "What makes them Chinese?"

I shrug, "I do not know."

Sophie smiles. "Why do you speak like that?"

I suddenly feel very self conscious of my mouth. "Uh, what do you mean?"

Sophie looks at me, her expression unreadable. "Its nothing. Just, I like the way you do."

I try not to look as flustered as I feel as I push off the ground gently. "Really?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

"You like baseball?" Sophie asks suddenly after a silence stretches between us.

I look at her, a bit confused as to how she knows that. I ask her, and Sophie laughs like she finds that question funny.

"Brody, you are wearing a Yankees shirt. I think the Yankees are the baseball team, am I right?" Sophie raises an eyebrow at me challengingly.

I nod. "Yeah."

Sophie smiles. "So, you do like baseball?"

"Yes, I do. Do you?"

Sophie purses her lips. "Not very much. I like to swim though," She states. "What about you?"

I try not to feel so embarrassed as I clear my throat, stalling for time. "Er... I do not know how to swim."

Sophie looks at me, but she doesn't look like she's about to laugh at me. "You don't?"

I shake my head. "Nope," I confirm.

"Would you like to learn, though?" She asks.

I think about my answer. Swimming seems like a pretty scary idea to me right now.

"Its all about confidence, I think," Sophie offers, flashing me her trademark smile.

I raise an eyebrow and repeat, "Confidence?"

Sophie giggles. "Yes, confidence. If you think you can do it, you do it. You don't even have to think about it," She admits. "Well, that's me, I guess. Swimming is fun. You'd like it."

I lick my lips nervously and kick off the ground in silence. On the other side of the see-saw, Sophie watches for my reaction carefully.

I decide to change the subject. "How do you like school?"

She shrugs. "I like our reading lessons. And free time, of course."

I smile. "Everyone likes free time. You like reading?"

Sophie nods, eyeing me carefully. "You aren't going to be like the mean boys, are you? The ones that call me _nerdy_?" She says the last word as if she's ashamed. She shouldn't be. I think so, at least.

I scrunch up my nose in distaste. I've seen some of the boys from the other classes sometimes talking to Sophie and saying stuff to her. They interrupted her reading and said stuff I could not hear. Sophie didn't like that very much, you could tell by the way her eyes were going darker.

"Your eyes are very confusing," I said stupidly, the words rolling out of my mouth without my consent.

Sophie stares at me, looking bewildered. "I'm sorry?"

I try not to feel as stupid as I should. "Uh, what I mean is... They change the color. Like shades. Shades of green." I try to rephrase the sentence the best I can. "Your eyes change to different shades of green sometimes."

Sophie purses her lips.

Feeling like I have to say something to redeem myself I say, "Its cool."

Sophie raises an eyebrow. "You think so?"

I nod. "Yeah."

Sophie smiles. "Thank you," She said kindly, her green eyes twinkling. They've become a much brighter shade. They look very pretty right now.

My mouth opens once more, to say something else that sounds very weird - but very true - but my dad's voice stops me.

"Hey, Brody? Sorry, buddy, but we've got to go now." My dad looks at Sophie and I watch his smile widen. "Who's this?"

Sophie gets off the see-saw, making my end go down like a meteoroid. Neither of them notice and I quickly get off the sandy ground, trying to ignore the pain in my butt.

"I'm Sophie," She introduces herself, holding out her hand politely. "I'm Brody's classmate."

Dad smiles. "I think I've heard your name before from Brody." He leans down so he's at her height and he says sincerely, "Sophie's a very pretty name. Thank you for playing with Brody."

I nod. "Yeah," I admit. "I had fun today, thank you for playing with me."

Sophie's green eyes regain that really nice sparkle that looks like it should belong there. "No problem, I enjoyed it as well."

I smile much too wide. "Really?"

Sophie chews her lower lip and looks as if she's trying not to laugh. "Yes, I did."

"Will you be here tomorrow?" I ask quickly.

Sophie thinks about it then shakes her head. "No, I won't."

I try not to let the flooding disappointment flowing through me get to me. "Oh."

Sophie then brightens up. "I think I will be here next week, will you be here then?"

I think about it. "That is the week school ends?"

My dad suddenly taps my shoulder, I look up at him and see a worried look in his eyes. I wonder why that expression is in them, but I refocus my attention back to Sophie and nod.

"Yes, I will be there. I promise. Maybe we can go on the see-saws again."

Sophie grins. "We could also go on the slides. Have more races."

"And the swings!" I add, feeling giddy.

Sophie thrusts out a freckled hand. It looks like a very nice hand. I shake that stupid thought out of my crazy mind. "Pinky swear?"

I blush, remembering that my dad and mom are probably watching this exchange.

"Yes. I pinky swear, _and_ I promise."

Sophie's eyes twinkle and I know that even though I sounded like a serious goof, it was worth it to see that.

"That's a very big promise," She notes thoughtfully.

I agree. "Well, I have to go now. See you at school."

Sophie waves at me. "Goodbye."

I turn back to my dad who's got an unreadable expression on his face. He forces a smile on his face and waves to Sophie as we walk away from her and the see-saw.

* * *

**Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this! :) I enjoyed writing it. The next chapter of the actual story will be up in a few more days! I hope you liked reading from Brody's POV. I plan on making another one shot with these two, I've already got their mini story planned out. **

**So, until next time, take care ;-D  
**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Eleven - Wedding Dates

**Disclaimer - I don't own PJO or HoO, Rick Riordan does.**

**Thanks to Koko's gone loko, the quill12, fredforevermyluv, Kalou, DarkHairedHeroes, Infinity Is Forever, graceless angels, foreverfanfiction, Luna082, August1999, myfabulousity, Raspberriee Kisses, Jedi1, allen r, Ana-DaughterofHades, Random person in wonderland, Thatnerdychic14, wisegirlathena, dld567, ariellee.055, albertllerenas, AliceOfMusic, harryjackson11, KeishlaTheEpicwriter, Apollol, Peace-Rocks123, ILovetoFly, thewriterinthemist, Katherine'TheChameleon'Jackson, soccerstud98, The Secret To Love, NINJAS RULE THE WORLD, PurpleQueen981 (Guest), MidnightBoredom, KatieElizabethGrace, MSU19, Greenpie9, HiddenBlade, D (Guest), and all the other guests!**

**********Anonymous review replies:**

**********PurpleQueen981 - Well, I'm glad you enjoyed! You're right about Percy and Annabeth though... Hm... I'll have to fix that. I'm happy you enjoyed the previous chapter!**

**********D - I'm glad you enjoyed :) **

**********Guest who said 'Hi' - Hey... xD**

**********Guest who said 'Yes! More Sophie. We need more.' - Well, I hope you enjoyed that Sophie filled chap last time, this one's got some Sophie time as well!**

**Summary - There were many ways Annabeth Chase imagined that she'd meet her soulmate. Spilling her coffee on him certainly wasn't the way. She also didn't expect her soulmate to be such an idiot - a Seaweed Brain, in fact. Neither did she expect her soulmate to have a daughter.**

* * *

"Good morning, Annabeth!"

Two cheery voices greet me as soon as I sit up in bed and open my eyes. Percy and Sophie are sitting side by side, both wearing identical grins.

"Uh." Is all that comes out of my mouth. Percy smirks at me, his eyes full of mirth, and I glance at the room on the wardrobe in front of the bed. My hair is a mess. I groan inwardly.

"We made you breakfast," Sophie announces proudly, gesturing to one of the bedside tables - the right one. I smile at her fondly.

"Thanks, Soph," I say honestly. Sophie beams.

"Daddy made most of it, I just did the pancakes," Sophie adds, sounding sheepish.

I look at the tray of pancakes and toast. Coffee is sitting beside it.

"The pancakes look wonderful," I tell her. I take the tray and sit up in bed, placing it on my lap. I look over at Sophie and Percy, each of them watching with their own set of green eyes.

Percy's is more a sea green color, a handsome shade at that. Sophie's is lighter, like shining leaves.

"Eat it up, Chase," Percy interrupts my thoughts.

I smile and dig in.

"When do you want to leave?" Percy asks after I finish munching on a piece of toast.

I shrug, reaching for the cup of coffee that is calling to me. I slurp it down happily, the warmth hitting my throat. I would let out a pleased sigh, except I know I would never hear the end of that from Percy.

"Preferably before lunch, but anytime today is alright." I cut up a pancake, maple syrup poured over each pancake in a perfect amount.

"Right, so... Is ten alright for you? Or do you need more time for your makeup?" Percy adds, teasing me.

I roll my eyes. "I don't plan on wearing makeup today, you know?"

"Good, because you look gorgeous without it. Not that I've ever seen you wear any, but I'm sure you look much better without it," Percy states confidently.

His compliment makes my insides flip around like a little schoolgirl. I take a shaky breath as I take another sip of my coffee, trying to look nonchalant.

"Right, I'll keep that in mind."

Sophie looks as confused as a puppy dog trying to learn tricks. I decide to talk to her, after all, she is much less confusing to talk to compared to Percy.

"So, where did you and your mother go yesterday?"

Something peculiar crosses Sophie's face, but it disappears as soon as it appears. "We went to the movies, playground and got ice cream," She replies easily. "It was very fun. I really only get to see her on vacation and weekends because she's so busy at work."

I nod, swallowing my bite of pancake and cutting up another one.

Percy nudges his daughter fondly, his green eyes sparkling. "Sophie, tell her what you and I are doing tomorrow."

Sophie grins, but she shakes her head at her father. "Don't _prod_ me in the side, Daddy."

Percy looks apologetic and nods. Sophie giggles at him and continues.

"Tomorrow we're going to the aquarium, and on a glass bottomed boat! We're going to see tons of sea creatures," Sophie exclaims happily. I smile at her and say,

"That sounds wonderful, I'm sure you'll have fun. You're lucky to have a father like you do," I admit.

Sophie looks at Percy, who's staring at me, looking as red as a beet.

"I know I am," She responds simply. Percy breaks his stare from me to give her a kiss on the top of her head.

After I finish my breakfast - between my talks with Percy and Sophie, of course - Percy childishly decides to prod Sophie in her shoulder and shout, "You're it!"

Thus, a game of tag ensues. Sophie blinks and quickly tags me, catching me off guard, before running somewhere else.

I grit my teeth and curse Percy, but soften as I hear Sophie's laugh coming from somewhere close.

I take off, searching for the two Jacksons. I almost laugh at myself for how kiddish it seemed, but... I think that I was actually enjoying myself. I came to a stop as I hear ruffling coming from the bathroom. I couldn't help but feel a rush of evil pleasure, judging by how loud that sound was, I could not help but assume that it was Percy - my dear, dear friend.

I slammed the door open and came face to face to a startled Percy Jackson. His green eyes met my grey ones and we both instantly knew the message the other was sending. Percy yelped and tried uselessly to rush past me without getting tagged, while I simply slammed my palms into his chest, sending him crashing to the wall. His breathing became labored and rough and I stared up at him coolly.

"Tag, seriously?" I shook my head.

Percy grinned weakly. "Its more fun to play with more people," He stated.

"I agree," I replied, then I leaned up on my tippy toes and let my breath hit his ear, trying to seem as cool and natural as possible. I could tell by the tortured look that Percy had in his eyes that he was really fighting the urge to throw me down and kiss me. I could relate to that. Finally, I gave him mercy and whispered, "You're it, by the way."

Then, I was off, trying to run as lightly as possible. I could hear Percy curse at himself back at the bathroom before taking off after me and Sophie loudly. I snorted silently, the poor guy was never going to be able to tag anyone if he kept running like that.

Pretty soon, Percy managed to get Sophie, who was hiding under her bed, and she tagged him instantly back, despite the fact that Percy was in the middle of saying, "No tag backs!"

Finally, Percy gives up, much to Sophie and my own amusement. When we all sat down on the couch, it was obvious that we were both doing our best to not laugh at him.

"You and Daddy had a date yesterday, right? At the beach?" Sophie asks innocently, but her eyes betray her glee.

I take a sudden interest in my shoes and Percy lets out a tiny noise that sounds like a tiny kitten's mewl.

"Uh, yeah," I say, when Percy does not volunteer to give the information.

"Did you and Daddy have a waterfight?" Sophie asks, giggling. "We always have one when we go to the beach."

I laugh. "Yes, we have, but then a wave interrupted that."

Percy meets my gaze and I see his green eyes twinkle.

"It was great," Percy states firmly, his tone soft.

"Are you two going to do it again?" Sophie's green eyes are full of as she asks this simple, innocent question.

Percy and I look at Sophie, both of us amused, yet anxious as we in turn look at each other.

"Its up to Annabeth," Percy says after a moment's hesitation.

I raise an eyebrow. "I would like that very much, in fact."

Percy blinks, stunned and then he grins. "Really?"

I snort. "Do you think I would say something I wouldn't mean?"

Percy smiles so widely that the lines around his eyes crinkle.

The way to my apartment, Percy and I are silent. I twiddle my thumbs together, not knowing what to say. After seeing how happy Sophie was to have her father be with a woman she obviously approved of, that gave me another reason to not date Percy. I enjoyed being around Sophie, and if I gave this dating thing a shot with Percy and we broke up, I might lose that.

"What are you thinking so hard about?" Percy asks, concern lining his words. "You shouldn't frown like that and bite your lip, you know? I mean, you look adorable doing that, but you shouldn't ruin your nice lips.

I blush before looking over at him in all seriousness.

"Percy," I begin, "I... To be honest, I really like you. Like as more as a friend."

Percy gives his low chuckle. "I think I've already gotten the message, judging that you don't look at me like you won't to kill me whenever I get too close for comfort."

I hate this. I hate the way Percy's making me feel. I hate the fact that sometimes he can get under my skin, I hate the way he makes me feel all jittery and warm inside. I hate how we're too involved now to let each other go. I don't want to lose my friend, but I don't want to take a risk. I close my eyes.

"Percy, I'm sorry, but... I need a bit more time."

Percy is silent for the rest of the ride, and I don't say anything either.

The rest of the car ride is spent in silence and the atmosphere is tense. Finally, he stops outside of my building. I grab my bags in the back of the car and get out of the door. Percy gets out as well and follows me to the entrance.

"Have a good day, Annabeth."

I nod. "You too, Percy," I reply. For some reason, it feels like this is the last time we're ever going to talk to each other.

Percy swallows roughly as he shifts his weight from one to the other. "Are we still friends?" His voice is quiet, like a shy teenager talking to their ex while still not being over them.

I manage a smile. "Of course."

Percy ducks his head before waving to me and getting back in the car.

I watch as he gets in the car and straps his seatbelt on before driving off. He doesn't look back.

* * *

"Hey, Annabeth, you alright? You seem out of it today," Luke observes, jarring me back to reality and out of my memories.

I refocus my attention at Luke and at the papers on my desk. What were we supposed to be talking about again? I glance at the papers and remember. Ah, yes, we were talking about a contract we had with this marine company or something to make a new building for them with more room than their current one. At least, I think that was what the contract was about. I frown inwardly, Luke was right, I wasn't in it.

"Did something happen on the weekend? You were perfectly fine on _Friday_."

Lots of things happened during the weekend. I didn't say any of that to Luke, though. I had no clue if he even cared.

"Nah... I didn't have my cup of coffee this morning, that's all. Didn't get that much of a good sleep either," I add. The last part was true, I'd spent most of last night turning and tossing around in my bed.

"I can relate to that," Luke offers. Then, he begins rambling off on the contract. To be honest, at the moment, I could care less of the pro and cons of doing it. Sure we had our hands full with our other new buildings, but I liked the distractions. It took my mind off... Other things.

"Right," I interrupt. "So, who are we making the new building for?"

Luke stares at me as if I've suddenly sprouted two more heads. "You want to go through with this?" He demands, disbelief loud and apparent in his voice.

I shrug. "Sure."

Luke bites his lip. "We've sort of got our hands full with the other -"

"Then, I'll get us started on the blueprints and you finish up the rest," I cut him off smoothly.

Luke is silent, but I see a tiny smile begin to form on the corner of his lips. "Alright," He agrees. "So you begin the blueprints on the new building for the marine biologists. They listed all the things they need or want more of here," Luke pulls out a pad of paper with bullet points and hastily written notes and taps on it.

"Sure. Thanks," I take it.

"No problem."

"So what have you been up to? You know, outside of work?" I ask, genuinely interested.

Luke raises an eyebrow. "You actually care?"

I roll my eyes. "Just making conversation, but to be honest I sort of do. I would like to know what my job partner gets up to after work hours."

Luke chuckles. "Well, I hang out with my friends. Go bowling, movies, the average things the average guy does."

I smirk. "So, you're just an average guy?"

Luke nods affirmative. "Yep, and no strings attached, by the way," He adds cockily, flashing me a wink.

I snort. "Sorry, but _you_ aren't my type."

Luke chuckles. "Yeah, you deserve someone much better than me."

I don't want to bring that argument up again, once we're at it, we don't stop. "Don't bring that up again, please."

"I wasn't going to."

I look over at Luke. "Can I ask you something? Its a bit _personal_ though," I add warily.

Luke nods. "Sure, go ahead. Ask me anything you want."

I tuck a stray curl behind my ear, and clear my throat. "When we were..."

Luke raises an amused eyebrow. "Dating?" He supplies helpfully.

I let out a weak laugh and regain my confidence. "Yes, when we were dating, did you... Did you feel the same way I felt about you?"

Luke purses his lips. "Well, I liked you a lot." Then he shakes his head and looks up at me guiltily. "No, I didn't. Not in that way."

I nod, expecting the answer. "Okay."

Then, I think of another question. An even more personal one at that. I set my jaw.

"Um, can I ask you another one? Its a lot more personal."

Luke furrows his eyebrows and chews his lower lip. He manages a smile though. "Sure, shoot."

I lick my lips, nervous to find out the answer. "You don't have to answer this, but... Who was the girl? I mean, do you remember her?"

A look I've never seen on Luke dances across his face for a brief second before he regains the look of guilt. "Uh, no. I was pretty wasted," He says the last part with a tiny laugh.

I try to fight away the nagging thought that he's lying to me. I just plaster a smile on my face and nod. "Oh, yeah."

When he turns away to get something from the shelves, I let the frown take over my smile.

* * *

"So, you and Percy broke up?" Piper asks cautiously as we wait in line for the movies. Silena, who was currently applying lipstick, lets out a surprised squeak and dropped her portable mini mirror. It bounced on the carpeted floor, unbroken.

However, Silena ignored it - Which was _so_ out of character for her - and turned to me.

"You broke up with Percy?"

"I was _never_ in a relationship with him!" I protest.

"So you're you're just frowning at nothing in particular for no good reason?" Piper asks.

That smart-

I sigh and grumble something inaudible.

"You like him, though," Silena notes gently. "Its pretty obvious."

I refuse to blush in front of my friends. Especially Silena.

"Don't try to deny it," Piper states. "You could not be more obvious when you talk about him."

I look at them both. "I do like him, okay? I just _can't_ be with him."

Silena and Piper both raise their eyebrows in such a similar manner that I am once again reminded of another facial expression they both share being cousins.

"Why not?" Piper presses, sounding confused. "I can tell by the way you talk about your time together that he's totally into you."

"Its much more complicated than that," I shoot back.

Silena groans and shakes her head at me, her hair swishing back and forth. At that noise, she attracts the attention of the other people waiting in line. Most of them turn away after seeing who'd made the noise, but some keep on looking at her. Most specifically the male gender.

I cut her off before she can bother me. "So, how's your love life?"

Silena grins wickedly. "Not as interesting as your's. Let me tell you, its not as complicated between you and Percy as you think. You two like each other, if you gave this relationship thing a try, I bet it could work."

I lick my lips nervously, trying to push down the rush of hope. Hearing this from Silena - the friend who has had the most romantic relationships and very best advice - gives me a sudden burst of desire for something that could become very real. Then, it fades as I remember that my act yesterday must have definitely given Percy the idea I wasn't going to take anything further with him.

"That's what Percy told me. He said we'd make our relationship work." I smile at the thought of it.

Piper prods me in the shoulder, beaming up at me. "Exactly! See, Percy's willing to make it work for the two of you. Are you?"

I take a shaky breath.

Piper and Silena then seem to understand what I'm thinking about.

"Oh," they say in unison, their voices soft.

"Annabeth, Percy isn't like Luke. You know that right? Even though I've never met him, I think I know enough about him to know that he would never hurt you like that," Silena says comfortingly, patting my arm.

"I agree, Percy seems too nice to do anything like that to a lady," Piper offers. "Besides, if he does, you've got your friends to deal with him."

I laugh. "Yeah, thanks."

"So, you going to take him up his offer?" Silena looks at me, grinning. "You've been single for too long, sister."

I roll my eyes. "Oh, shut up," I say playfully.

"So, Piper, how's _Jason_?" Silena asks, smiling wickedly. Piper's cocoa brown skinned cheeks turn red. "You excited for the wedding?"

Ah, yes, Piper's wedding. After many years of dating, Jason finally got his head set straight and got down on one knee in front of her.

"Just one more month," Piper murmurs nervously, fingering one of her braids - a nervous habit of her's.

I pat her on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it, its going to be great."

"Yeah - Plus, as me as the wedding organizer, its going to fabulous!" Silena winks brightly.

Piper smiles weakly. "Thanks, you girls have got to be the greatest friends anyone could've asked for. No wonder I chose you two as my bridesmaids."

Silena and my jaws could not have possibly dropped any lower than they had.

"_What_?" We demand, practically shrieking. That draws the attention of the other people in line once again and they give us very annoyed glances.

Piper blinks. "What?" She asks, confused.

"You never told us anything about that!" I tell her off.

"Piper!" Silena exclaims frantically, wringing her hands together. "I thought... I just assumed that you asked some of your other friends."

Piper blushes. "I didn't... Didn't I tell you?"

Silena and I shake our heads silently.

"Oops. Well." Piper fidgets nervously. "You two have got to be my best friends, I've known you both since like, ever. Will you-"

"Hell _yeah_!" Silena giggles, twirling a hair with her finger.

"Welcome, what movie would you like to see today?" A bored tone interrupts my own response and us three see that we've finally made it to the front of the line.

After the movie, Piper hooks an arm around mine and flashes me a nervous smile.

"I'll do it, Piper," I agree, smiling as well.

"Really?" Piper gives me a look of relief and I laugh.

"Did you honestly think I'd say _no_?"

"So, who's your maid of honor?" Silena quips in, a glint in her blue eyes.

Piper stops her walk, looking at a loss for words as Silena and I stare at her, both of us eager. Piper stares back, sheepishly and wringing her hands.

"Uh..."

* * *

"Congratulations," Percy says calmly, flashing me a grin.

"Thanks." A stray curl falls out of my ponytail and I watch as Percy's green eyes zero in on it. He stares at it fiercely before swallowing and looking away.

I tuck the curl behind my ear and pretend not to have notice that.

"So, by the way, I need a date," I state, rather matter of factly.

Percy looks back at me and takes a sip of his coffee. I'd left home early for work today and stopped at the cafe to get a drink. Then, I saw Percy in line and that's how we were now talking over coffee. I still had quite a bit more time left before I had to really head to work. I'd wondered how long Percy had left till he had to go, but when I asked him he told me that it was his day off.

"Oh." Percy is quiet after that information reaches his ears.

"I was sort of planning to go solo..." I explain. _B__ut then I met you_.

"Can I be your date?"

Percy is gazing at me with the most peculiar expression as he asks that. I try to hide my smile as I stare right back at him. "Do you really want to?"

Percy smiles gently, his face still wearing that strange look. "Of course, I'd love to."

I try not to grin too widely. "Cool." I glance down at my watch.

"Is it time for you to go now?" Percy asks.

I shake my head, looking back up. "Nah, I've got about a couple of minutes to kill. Think you can entertain me for that long?"

Percy chuckles. "I'll try," He said while taking a sip of his coffee. "So, anything new at work?"

I shrug. "We signed a contract with this marine biology company. So, now I begin working on the blueprints first while my partner finishes up the other projects we're working on."

Percy's eyes light up. "Hey! That's _my_ company you signed with," He says, beaming. "Just remembered." He taps his head, smirking.

I grin. "We'll be seeing a little bit more during work hours, then, huh?"

"I hope so," Percy admits.

I attempt not to blush as much as I want to.

"Aw, you falling for me, darling?" Percy smirks.

I grit my teeth, still refusing to show any sort of emotion that would lead Percy to think that he was actually right. Not that he was wrong...

"Keep on dreaming, Jackson."

Percy winks at me slyly. "You don't need to tell me."

I slap his arm, laughing and shaking my head at the same time. "You are such a massive, idiotic -"

"Guy that you've got the hots for?" Percy interrupts briskly, grinning ear to ear.

"Think of something less flattering and you've got it," I retort, flicking his nose. Percy scrunches up his nose that surprisingly looks quite adorable, but I throw that thought out of the window.

"You are so mean to me," Percy whines.

I laugh dryly. "I know, darling, I know." I flash a glance at my watch and sigh regretfully. "Sorry," I tell Percy, "Its time for me to head to work now."

"Right, have a great day. Try not to think of me too much," Percy adds cockily.

"Oh gosh, that is gonna be so hard," I drawl.

Percy snorts. "It should be."

I roll my eyes. "See ya," I say, standing up and taking a chance.

After planting the kiss on his cheek, I don't look back to see his reaction.

Only after I exit the cafe, does my brain comprehend what I'd just done.

Crap. That probably messed with his head. I groan and slam my head in my hands. I am a horrible person, playing with Percy's feelings like that.

I get to head, replaying that scene over and over again in my mind. Only when do I get in the elevator, I decide what to do. I pull out my phone and send a quick text off to Percy.

_I'm sorry about that kiss. __-AC_

I take a breather and slip my phone back into my purse, putting my head against the wall.

Then, my phone buzzes and I take it back out tentatively.

The elevator doors slide open as soon as I read the text Percy shot back.

_**Don't be, I rather enjoyed it. If you're still feeling bad about that, you could always give me a real kiss as an apology ;-D. - PJ**_

I can't help but smile at that. That irritating, attractive - plus needy - man.

* * *

**Author's Note: I'm not very happy with this chapter, the next update will come next week... I think... Anyways, this story will come to an end soon and I'm thinking of another Percabeth story, but with a much different feel to it. I'm glad that most of you enjoyed the Sophie/Brody (Brophie) chapter :) **

**Please favorite this story if you think it's good enough xD, follow if you'd like to see more and review if you'd want to tell me how I'm doing so far.**

**PS. Sorry I didn't reply to some of your reviews in the previous chapters, I'll be sure to answer them all as soon as I get a chance! **

**Till next time, take care :D**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Twelve – Day Out With Percy

**Disclaimer - I don't own PJO or HoO, Rick Riordan does.**

**Thanks to jasonrocks46, Zimmi123456, littlemixlover17, DreamDuelist, Thanatos' Wrath, Harry James Cullotty, Peace-Rocks123, InsaneKids159, Brackenfern, potterblacklupin-4ever, percabethhippocampi, Shadow9, hannahbug43, Runner of Sorts, myfabulousity, diamondreader, Jedi1, athenasgirl102, resusin, Greenpie9 (Guest), MSU19, ForTheGloryOfSparta, MidnightBoredom, August1999, Ana-DaughterofHades, toolazytologin (Guest), bookslover1994, allen r, Gallifrey Dweller, Harmonious Wolf, AshleyDaughterofApollo, Sol and G'syr, Chicadiva75, Kage Getsuga, Silverfeather97, CrisenberryCrunch, earthygirl1234, snowleopardluver, kennyisdabomdotcom, FandomsUnite98, Kalipsis and everett2!**

**Anonymous review replies -**

**Ana-DaughterofHades - So you like longer chapters? Hm, I will keep that in mind. I hope you enjoy this update!**

**MidnightBoredom - I'm glad you liked the last chapter :D Don't worry, the Percabeth kiss you are waiting for will come very soon. Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Greenpie9 - I hope you love this chapter also, then :)**

**toolazytologin - I'm glad you think its 'brilliant' :D I hope this chapter is pretty high up in your standards.**

**Quick dedication to Anamika3468- Who gave me the brilliant idea for this chapter :)**

**Summary - There were many ways Annabeth Chase imagined that she'd meet her soulmate. Spilling her coffee on him certainly wasn't the way. She also didn't expect her soulmate to be such an idiot - a Seaweed Brain, in fact. Neither did she expect her soulmate to have a daughter.**

* * *

"I never pegged you as a guy who went horseback riding," I admitted as Percy led me over to the stables.

Percy grinned slyly. "Well, you've got to spend some more quality time with me, Chase."

"Name a place and time and I'll be there," I agree.

Percy halted in his step, nearly causing me to slam into his chest.

"Really?" He asked, his tone cautious. I detect a spark of hopefulness in it though.

"Really," I confirmed.

Percy grins so widely his back row of teeth showed.

"Cool," He said cheerfully. Then, he continued walking, whistling. I couldn't help but smiling hugely as well.

He held open the stable door as we reached it and I stepped in. It smelt like...

"Ignore the smell of dung," Percy suggested, shutting the door behind us. "Come on."

The stable had horses in pens that snorted and tried to smell us as we walked past. I couldn't help but admire how well they were groomed. Their coats gleamed brightly.

"My friend, Grover, he's happy to lend me his horse for the day. For you to ride," Percy explains. "She's called Juniper, after his wife."

"Juniper?" I repeated. I've never heard of a name like that before.

"Yeah, her parents have an obsession with greenery or something," Percy added. "We call her June, or Juni. Maybe you'll meet her sometime."

I nod in reply.

When we stop, Percy gestures to a tall horse. His coat was a shiny black, and his eyes were dark brown.

"This is Blackjack!" He announces proudly, puffing out his chest. "He's a handsome horse, huh?"

I agreed. Blackjack moved his head towards me and sniffed at my hair. I saw Percy's lips twitch in mirth.

"Don't worry, he doesn't bite."

I still felt nervous, though. I held out a hand to Blackjack, trying not to shake so hard when the massive horse's nose touched it. I glanced over at Percy and he gave me an encouraging nod. I took that as my cue to pat Blackjack.

"You take good care of him," I observe, noting once again how well the horse was groomed.

Percy shook his head. "I only come up every other weekend, I bring Sophie along sometimes. This a farm, really. The owner just decided to add another branch of business. Costs a lot, but a lot of people go riding so it sort of evens out. The farmhands take care of the horses."

"Oh. Why the name Blackjack?"

Percy squinted at his horse, chewing on his lower lip.

"Uh… Well… His coat was black and… Well, my favorite card game is Blackjack," He said, his face turning red. "I just thought of it on the spot really."

I smile. "Nice name, though."

"Thanks. Sophie calls him Ashes."

"That's a better name."

"You have a horrible taste in names."

"No, I don't," I retort.

"Sure you don't…"

"You doubt me? That proves you really are an idiot, Jackson."

"Hey!"

"What?"

Percy paused, sighing in defeat. "'Kay, you win."

I halted in my petting session. "Did you just say 'kay'?" I stare at him, surprised.

Percy's eyes widened and I watched as his face became that familiar red color of tomatoes.

"Shut up!" He groaned.

"Aw, is Percykins blushing?"

Percy stiffened. "Don't call me Percykins," He demanded.

I grinned. "Sorry, _Percykins_."

"Let me show you Juniper. She's a bit farther down," Percy mumbled, his ears still red.

"'Kay, Percykins." I laugh, following after him.

"I'm so going to get you back," Percy called over his shoulder.

He showed me Juniper, a brown-coated mare. Soon, Blackjack and Juniper are out of the stables and Percy sets them both up. He placed a bit on each of their mouths which were attached to the bridle. Then, he handed me a saddle and got to work on putting his own on Blackjack.

Meanwhile, I was forced to humiliation as I tried to figure out how to put it on.

When Percy was done with Blackjack's saddle, he noticed that I was struggling.

"Need some help?" He asked.

I stared at him. "What do you think?"

Percy held up his hands in defense. "Hey, no need to be rude."

"Sorry," I apologized, handing him the saddle. "I never went riding before."

"Its fine, I'm glad to be the first one to take you then."

"I'm glad you are also," I confess, not embarrassed.

Percy nearly dropped the strap he was doing when I said that. He looked up at me, his eyes twinkling in that really wonderful way that they do. "I'm glad you spilt your coffee on me, you know?"

I felt my cheeks warm and I knew I couldn't lie about something like this. "I'm glad too," I said, my tone firm.

Percy turned back around to work on the saddle, but I saw the forming grin on his face.

Soon, we were both up on the horses. Percy showed me how to control Juniper, holding my hands in his as he did so. I didn't mind, I liked it.

Juniper and Blackjack galloped side by side, not very fast though. I wasn't _that_ good.

I couldn't help but look over at Percy every few minutes. He looked really handsome today, in a plain blue buttoned up shirt and khakis.

When Percy caught my gaze, I couldn't help but blush madly.

"You checking me out again, Chase? Don't worry, I like being appreciated," Percy added pompously.

"Yeah, I think you look very nice today. You look very good in blue."

Percy grins lopsidedly, his own face turning red. "You think so?"

"I do."

"You look very beautiful today, also. I like what you did with your hair."

I gave him a look. "I didn't do anything to my hair."

"I know," Percy said simply, smiling.

We are both silent before I speak up. "Sometimes I think about straightening my hair, do you think –"

"No!" Percy exclaims, looking aghast. "Keep your curly hair, please."

I gaped at him. He really liked my hair. "You know, sometimes I think you are in love with my hair," I managed to say.

Percy reddened. "Your hair is very nice, I do like it a lot. Not as much as I like you, though, of course," He admits, unabashedly.

Once again, I blush fiercely. Damn, I blush _too_ much.

"Thanks… I like you too."

The expression on Percy's face was adorable.

* * *

We got off the horses about a half an hour later to give them both a break. Well, that was Percy's excuse. I had a feeling horses could go on for a bit longer, but I was a novice with horses.

"So, how's life?" Percy asked, slumping on the ground, his back on a tree.

I sat beside him and Percy scooted over so we could both share some of the tree as a backrest. A very uncomfortable backrest.

"Nothing special…"

"Seeing anyone?" Percy asked suddenly.

"Do you honestly think I'm seeing anyone?"

Percy paled slightly. "So, you are?" He asked warily.

I rolled my eyes. "No, Percy, I'm not."

Percy looked relieved. "Oh, good." He tensed up at his slip. "Uh, I mean… Good for me, because I like you."

I glanced at our hands and I slipped my hand under his, like I did all those weeks ago at the movies.

Percy looked down at our hands as well and he entwines our fingers together, looking overjoyed.

I chanced it and pecked him on the cheek.

Percy snapped his head back up and looked at me, shocked.

"What was that for?" He stammered.

I tried not to stumble over my words. "I wanted to. Sorry if it was not out of line."

"It wasn't," Percy assured, still red faced.

"Good," I nestled back to the tree and leaned on his shoulder. Percy and I both let out a sharp breath.

"You know, this reminds me of my first time being this close to the other gender," Percy reveals.

I laugh gently. "How did that go?"

Percy smirked. "Rather well, we made out."

I let out a strangled gasp and smacked his arm. "Percy!"

Percy rolled his eyes. "I was fourteen. A perfectly acceptable age to make out."

I still continued to give him _the_ look.

"Aw, you jealous?" Percy asked, poking me in the side, his tone fond.

"Yes, I'm _so_ jealous."

"I'll make you feel better," Percy said suggestively.

I tried not to blush at that. My knees felt as if they'd lost their feeling.

I opened my mouth to speak, "I –"

My words died in my throat as Percy placed his lips on mine.

The effect was intense. He kissed me sweetly and very gently. As soon as our lips met I knew that I wouldn't get enough of this. I hoped that Percy didn't feel how fast my heart was beating when he moved closer to me and placed a hand on my cheek and the other on the back of my neck, forcing me to get closer.

His mouth moved against mine, forcing my lips apart. He slid his tongue across my lower lip and I let out a very un-Annabeth-like moan.

I felt him smirk and I grabbed his hair and shoved him closer. Cue Percy's hiss.

The hand he placed on my cheek moved up to my hair and I felt his fingers slide into my curls and entwine them around his fingers.

Unfortunately, we had to part for air.

As we both caught our breaths, sense came into mind. "What about Sophie?" I asked warily, as soon as I had enough air to speak.

Percy stared at me, before regaining his confidence. "We're not breaking up," He told me confidently. "Not a problem with Sophie, right?"

I nodded, feeling a giddy smile spread across my lips. Percy's eyes focused on them and I noticed how dazed they looked. A surge of pride flooded through me that I had done that to him. Without another thought, I grasped his hair once again and shoved his lips onto mine.

"Can't get enough of me, huh?" Percy somehow managed to speak, even if his words were immensely muffled.

"Shut up," I mumbled, pulling back a centimeter. "You love it."

"I do," Percy assented happily, and the two of us presumed to our kissing session.

When we rode back on Blackjack and Juniper, we both had matching smiles on.

* * *

In the car, Percy spoke.

"Stay with me tonight, please."

"Percy…" I began, cautious, "I don't think that's very wise."

Percy looked over at me, yet still keeping an eye on the road. He frowns. "I won't do anything you don't want me to do," He says kindly, "We don't even have to sleep in the same room if you feel uncomfortable."

Oh gosh, is that what he meant by staying over? I felt my cheeks go pink all over again.

"I… Uh…"

Percy turned pink as well. "Nevermind, I'll just take you home. Sorry," He adds, sounding shy as well as humiliated.

I feel as if I have to mend something between us. "Its fine, Percy. I would actually like to stay over sometime, but not tonight."

Percy nods in agreement. "Okay, I'll keep that in mind." He gives me a sideways glance and pecks me chastely on the lips.

"Percy!" I gasp, shocked.

"What?" He asks cheekily.

I just shake my head at him and fight back the smile that threatens to come out.

* * *

He drops me off at my place and walks me to my apartment. He leans against the wall of the hallway as I fumble for my keys.

"I will miss you," He coos sadly.

"Poor baby," I tease.

Percy pouts and tries to kiss me again, but I shove his eager lips away.

"I got to get the key in first," I tell him, laughing.

Percy rolls his eyes. "Screw the key," He grumbles, shoving his hands in his pockets. Then, he loses his pouty expression as he looks at me hopefully. "Will I see you tomorrow?"

"That depends," I say, finally finding my key and shoving it in the lock, "If I find a cuter guy."

Percy throws me an annoyed look as I open my door.

"Annabeth," Percy whines childishly.

"Sounding like a child is _so_ attractive, Jackson," I reply sarcastically.

Percy sticks out his tongue and me and I pinch his cheeks. He yelps and places a hand on each of them.

"You're so mean!" He then proceeds to sing a verse of 'She's So Mean'.

"And you are a man child," I interrupt before he plunges into the chorus.

He gives me the evil eye. "I am an _adorable_ man child," He corrects. Then he pauses and looks over at me carefully. "Doesn't that make you a ped-"

"Percy!" I clap a hand over his mouth and I watch as his eyes glimmer.

"Your hand feels nice," He claims, his voice muffled.

I drop my hand and shake my head. "You are _so_ weird."

Percy feigns a hurt look. "Everyone's special, Annabeth!" He chides. "I just shine brighter than all the others."

He sees my expression and he rolls his eyes. "I can't win with you!"

"You know I always win," I remind him, smiling.

Percy shakes his head, his own smile widening.

Then, he holds the door and gestures for me to step in.

"What a gentleman," I comment, letting Percy in as well. He shuts the door gently behind him.

Percy kisses my cheek, his lips warm and soft. "Goodnight, Annabeth."

"Goodnight, Percy."

* * *

**Author's Note: They kissed - finally! :p Lots of you have been waiting for that, so I hope I didn't disappointment. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I don't think it was very good really. My writing sucked. *SPOILER ALERT* Next chapter there will be drama, lots and lots of drama... :p, I guess.**

**Anamika3468 gave me the idea of making Percy take Annabeth horse riding. Blackjack made an appearance! Man, that pegasus is awesome. Lol. So, please review if you'd like to tell me how I'm doing or you have an idea for Percy and Annabeth - I appreciate them. Follow this story if you'd like to see more and please favorite if you find this story good enough :)**

**Apologies because I won't be able to respond to your reviews immediately, it will take a couple of days. So, until next time take care!**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Thirteen - Bombshell

**Disclaimer - I don't own PJO or HoO, Rick Riordan does.**

**Thanks to PurpleQueen981, August1999, GreekMythologyFreak12, fredforevermyluv, Luna082, Lunette Tala, resusin, Labrador1331, FlorenceBradbury, Percabethloverrr (Guest), everett2, MSU19, UnBreakableFacade, Ana-DaughterofHades, emily (Guest), Sol and G'syr, AshleyDaughterofApollo, Anamika3468, Greek Wise Girl, MidnightBoredom, athenasgirl104, twilightershay16, Awesomegirl2656, def3nestrator, blah8910, josedadude5, heavenxxbaby, Linds1216, Elohine, RubixMan12, green to gray, EmilyHS, AdorkablePercabethLover, Tomboy22, FandomsUnite98, allen r, Hbeast210, lala2902, sarcastic1515, Percabethlover22, MexicanPr0digy, ABBY (Guest), ariellee.055 and all other Guests!**

******Anonymous review replies - **

******Guest who said 'yayayayayay PERCABETH! PLEASE UPDATE!' - Well here's the update, hope you enjoy :)**

******Percabethloverrr - Thanks! Don't worry, I wasn't planning on discontinuing this anytime soon :) Hope you enjoy this update.**

******emily - Whoa! There are a few more chapters to come xD sorry if I didn't make that clear. I just meant the story was ending soon. Anyways, if you read this, I hope you like it. **

******Guest who said 'I love ur story I've been reading it for awhile but who is pipers maid of honor and what about reyna u no from camp Jupiter but if u don't want to add her it's ok...' - Oh, sorry I didn't mean to make it so unclear. Piper's maid of honor is Annabeth. Reyna will be making a quick appearance next chapter, so don't worry :) **

******Guest who said 'YAY! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! YAY! That is how I fell when you have updated.' - Ha, I'm glad you were so excited :)**

******Guest who said 'Pls pls continue I dying to know what will happen' - Well here's the next chapter. **

******Guest who said 'Update update update update update update update update UPDATE!' - Sorry for the wait, but here is the update :)**

******Guest who said 'Nice idea' - Thanks :) Its nothing special though.**

******Guest who said 'I love this!' - Well, I'm glad you do :D**

******Abby - The story will come to an end soon, but I'll try to make the rest of the story as good as I can. Here's the chapter, I hope you enjoy!**

**********Summary - There were many ways Annabeth Chase imagined that she'd meet her soulmate. Spilling her coffee on him certainly wasn't the way. She also didn't expect her soulmate to be such an idiot - a Seaweed Brain, in fact. Neither did she expect her soulmate to have a daughter.**

* * *

"Rock, paper, scissors, _shoot_!"

Percy and I both look down at our hands in unison. I grin.

"Beat ya," I chortle, bumping his fist down with mine.

"How come you're so good at this?" Percy demands, pouting.

"Its luck, Jackson," I reply simply. Percy snorts.

"You're quite lucky, then," Percy said.

"Alright. Your turn."

"Again," Percy mutters. "Fine, fine. Another embarrassing story... So many to tell..."

I smile. "My favorite one was when you -"

"_Hey_!" Percy said, warningly. There's a joking glint in his eyes, so I know that he doesn't really mean it.

"Fine, fine," I hold up my hands in surrender and Percy gives me a warm smile.

"Alright," He says, "When I was in middle school, my friends and I were hanging out at my house. We were playing Truth or Dare, and when it was my turn. I picked dare. I was dared to run around the neighborhood screaming that my guilty pleasure was playing with my cousin's barbies."

I laugh and Percy scowls at me. He throws a pillow softly at my face.

"Oh, shut it, Chase," Percy says. His tone's lighthearted, though, so I can tell he doesn't mind my laughter that much.

"Alright, alright. Want to go another round?"

Percy nods. "Sure."

"Rock, paper, scissors, _shoot_!"

"Mwahahaha." I giggle, my rock beating Percy's scissors. Percy groans.

"How are you so good at this?" Percy wonders aloud, his tone full of astonishment. "You haven't lost once!"

"Its luck, Jackson. Nothing that special about it," I tell him, patting his arm comfortingly. I fall back onto his bed, placing my hands behind my head and crossing my feet together. I look up at him. "Well, it's story time now."

Percy sighs. "Yeah. Okay... Let me think."

"Too many to choose from?" I tease. Percy rolls his eyes.

"Be quiet, Annabeth. Let me think," Percy said, poking me in the side. After a short while, with Percy deep in thought, I begin to feel restless. Fortunately, Percy speaks. "Okay, when I was in elementary, it was show and tell. I brought my dog to it, and it didn't turn out very well... You see, I wasn't very good at potty training back then and I guess it came to bite me."

I try my best to smother my laughter. "So, your dog peed on the carpet?"

Percy winces. "No. On my shoes."

I burst out laughing. "Aw, poor Percy."

Percy plops down beside me and goes onto his side, so he's facing me. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

Percy chews his lower lip. "Did you ever do something that was utterly embarrassing?"

"Yes, I have. A bunch of times."

"Tell me about one," Percy says softly.

"Ha. Well, one day I was drinking my coffee. Then, when I reached over for another sip, I accidentally knocked it over."

Percy's eyes twinkle.

"And that was a really embarrassing way to meet you."

Percy smirks. "You kept apologizing over and over. I thought you were having a panic attack."

I roll my eyes. "You weren't that much better. You thought I was a ringleader of a gang of clowns."

"Clowns are scary. You can't deny."

I smile. "What made you so scared of clowns?" I ask.

Percy licks his lips. "When I was in kindergarten, my class took a trip to the circus. You know, as a fun day. It was going very well until I got lost. Then, some guy taps me on the shoulder and I think that its my teacher who's come to get me. So, without thinking, I turn around and throw my arms round them." Percy takes a breath, before continuing on. "I look up to thank them and I see a horrible, colored face looking down at me."

I watch Percy's face grow horrified at the mere thought.

"I couldn't help myself, I screamed and ran from it. I found my class eventually, but all I could do was stammer. I kept seeing the horrible face in my mind. I had nightmares about it later on."

I pat his shoulder. "Okay," I said comfortingly. "Thanks for telling me."

Percy nods and we're both silent for a moment.

"Did something happen to you to make you scared of spiders?" Percy queries.

I shake my head. "No. I'm a natural arachnophobic."

Percy laughs and takes one of my hands from behind my hair. He entwines his fingers with mine and I feel all jittery inside.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" Percy blurts out, as if he didn't really plan on saying it.

My eyes widen.

Percy hurries to continue with his words, looking apologetic and humiliated. "I'm sorry, it just came out of my mouth. You were looking really pretty and I was sort of thinking how lucky I was to..." He shuts his mouth and his eyes. He takes a breath and finally cracks an eye open. I continue staring at him wordlessly. Percy finally says, "I'm sorry."

I shuffle closer to him and kiss him. Its a soft kiss, but it still makes my knees feel weak and I'm thankful I'm not standing up. Percy kisses back without hesitation, rather eagerly - I might add - and that makes pride swell inside of me.

"What was that for?" Percy asks breathlessly, his eyes glazed over. There's a silly smile on his face, as if he was witnessing Utopia before his eyes.

I roll my eyes. "It was a '_Yes, I'll be your girlfriend_' kiss."

Percy stares at me. "Seriously?" He asks, in disbelief.

"How many times do I have to say it?" I ask, shaking my head. I let a smile show, though.

Percy beams and smothers me with another kiss.

I feel light headed as he runs his tongue across my lower lip. Instead of grossing me out, it just makes me feel even better. Which is weird when you think about it, but I did my best to shove the thought out of my head as I kissed him back.

"Whoa, where did you learn to kiss like that?" Percy asks as we part for air.

I catch my breath before answering him. "What do you mean?"

Percy blushes. "You kiss very well."

"You kiss very well, too," I remark.

Percy lets a sly grin appear. "Really?" He asks.

"Yes, but don't let it get to your head."

Percy pouts, then brightens up. "You want to go for a walk? After we can pick Sophie up from her playdate," He adds.

I nod. "Sure, lets go."

We slide off of his bed and exit the building hand in hand. I don't really know where we're going, so I let Percy take the lead. Shortly after the walk begins, though, I recognize where he's taking us.

"The cafe," I said in realization.

Percy glances over at me and nods. "Yeah. I figured we could get a quick bite to eat, they do have some nice sandwiches."

"I do like sandwiches," I said simply. Percy just laughs.

"Of course you do. They're brilliant. Simple, yet _brilliant_," Percy says.

We reach the cafe and Percy holds the door open for me when we enter. When we go up to the counter, I see Percy and the barista eyeing each other.

"Percy Jackson?" The barista inquires, sounding mildly surprised.

Percy's eyes widen in recognition. "_Lacy_? I haven't seen you since college."

Lacy smiles and slides her gaze from Percy to me. "I'm Lacy," She says, rather unnecessarily, "Percy and I went to the same high school and college."

"I'm Annabeth." I thrust out a hand and she takes it. "Percy's girlfriend." I don't really mean for the sentence to turn out the way I said it, but I couldn't help the tiny possessiveness I felt at the moment.

Lacy's smile widens and she looks back at Percy. "I _knew_ you should've broken up with Rachel."

Percy stares at her. "What?"

Lacy shrugs. "All of us were so surprised when you continued to date her after she cheated on you," She explains abruptly, then glancing down at the counter as if she hadn't just said something so shocking.

Percy's hand becomes limp and it slips from my grasp. Lacy sees this motion and I watch her eyes become apologetic.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have mentioned it. So, what would you like -"

"Rachel? She _cheated_ on me?"

Percy's voice sounds hollow. Simply emotionless. I wince at the sound.

Lacy's eyes seem to bug out of their sockets as she realizes what she's just done. "You... _You didn't know_?"

Percy shakes his head wordlessly, his eyes suddenly going hard and cold. "How do you know?" He challenges.

Lacy swallows and she fidgets nervously from foot to foot, glancing around her as if hoping someone will miraculously help her out of this situation. "The guy she slept with... He came down after they did it and he told us all that he and Rachel Dare... Did it."

Percy's fists begin to shake.

I start to feel sick.

"The guy? Who was he?" Percy interrogates violently.

I hear the underlying threat in his words. I know he'll track down this guy and beat him to a pulp.

"Luke," Lacy's voice falters. "Luke Castellan."

The world starts to somehow spin around me. I feel dizzy and I fight the urge to vomit all over the cafe floor.

"Luke," Percy repeats. His voice sounds as if he's worlds away from me. "That's your Luke, isn't it? Annabeth? That's your partner right?"

I nod, clenching my fists.

Then, as if on cue, Luke and Rachel walk right into the cafe. They've each got an arm around each other and they look like the definition of cute.

The sight makes me sick.

"Frickin' _d'bag_!" Percy snarls, launching himself towards Luke. Luke sees Percy just in time and neatly sidesteps him. Percy lands in a heap.

"Percy!" Rachel yelps. I pay no heed to her and move my feet over to Percy. Then, I look at Luke. I grab him by the ear and yank him out of the cafe, away from Rachel's grasp. Then, I haul Percy to his feet and drag him out of the cafe.

"Luke," I bite out, "You've got some explaining to do."

Luke pales and Rachel looks faint.

"You cheated on me with Rachel, didn't you? You knew it was her the whole time? Was she the _real_ reason you came back?"

Luke looks down at his feet, his ears burning. I don't know whether its from shame or contained fury.

"Castellan!" Percy growls. He throws a punch at Luke, and this time he doesn't miss.

Luke crumples and Rachel stifled a scream. A bunch of pedestrians witnessing the scene shoot the four of us horrified looks before continuing their way. None of them speak to us, but I could sense the disapproval coming off of each and every one of them in waves.

"Rachel," Percy says, turning to his ex. "_Explain_."

Rachel has tears brimming her eyes, but I don't feel pity. Neither does Percy. The two of us stand there, looking at her for answers.

"I'm sorry," She finally manages. "It was a spur of the moment thing, honest."

Percy sets his jaw. "That still doesn't explain why you didn't tell me. It happened _so_ long ago! Why not tell me the day after? Why did you just pretend it never happened? I found it out from _Lacy_."

Rachel clears her throat, trying to gain control of the situation.

"I... I wanted to tell you, but the next day Drew -"

Percy scowls. "What the hell does _Drew_ have to do with this? Why would you even listen to her? She was a _life ruiner_. She ruined people's lives!"

Rachel winces. "Percy... She told me that you hit girls that you were angry at... That you threatened them." Rachel looks down at her shoes, squirming from nervousness and guilt.

Percy's scowl slides off of his face. He looks at Rachel with those innocent eyes. "She said I _hit_ girls?"

Rachel nods, the tears beginning to form. Her nose begins turning as red as her hair. I stare at Percy. I can't imagine him ever hitting a woman. That's not him.

"And you believed her?" I blurted out in disbelief.

Rachel swallows and looks at Percy apologetically. "We had only been going out for a week so far... And we argued and I didn't want to make things any worse. Plus, I just transferred a few weeks before that... I didn't really know you."

Percy pales and he takes a step towards Rachel, who takes a step back warily. I see hurt begin to show on Percy's face.

"Rachel, I may be rude at times... And I'm sorry for that. But I would _never_ hurt you."

Rachel bows her head. "I wanted to tell you so badly, but we just kept going out... You loved me, didn't you?"

Percy nods. "I did," He muttered.

Rachel lifts her head. "Then, I got pregnant. I couldn't tell you. I made a promise to never tell you. For our _child's_ sake. I knew for a fact that they couldn't be brought up by two angry parents."

"I... I understand?" Percy says, sounding as if he doesn't understand at all.

"I don't expect you to forgive me, Percy, but can we keep the fighting to the minimum around Sophie?"

After a long stretch of silence, the only noise comes from the cars and people around us, Percy finally says, "Of course." Then, he looks over at Luke who has been watching the entire exchange in silence. "As for you, you little piece of -" Percy says a word of profanity that makes a mother clap her hands to her daughter's ears while they pass. "- Cheating on _one_ woman is enough infidelity. If you make the same mistake twice to Rachel, I will beat the crap out of you."

"Percy," Rachel begins. "I'm sorry."

Percy just shrugs. Then he looks over at me and quietly holds out a hand. I take it, sparing one last glance at Luke. A silent short conversation happens betweenus and Luke dips his head after its over.

* * *

Percy and I walk in silence. Pretty soon, I realize that we aren't going to back to his apartment so I give him a quizzical look.

"Where are we going?"

"To pick up Sophie," Percy replies.

It hits me then how torn up Percy really is. I remember how hard it was when I found out Luke had cheated on me. At least I knew rather quickly after it happened. Percy didn't even know until so many years had passed. He had trusted Rachel and she used that to her advantage, pretending she was keeping no secrets.

"Percy." I force him to stop. Percy meets my eyes hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

"You can trust me, okay? I won't do what Rachel did," I tell him firmly, squeezing his hand comfortingly for good measure.

Percy lets out a soft, gentle smile. "I know you won't."

"Percy, I can't believe how hard it was for you to find out."

He winces. "I can't believe everyone except me knew."

I chew my lower lip. I can't believe it either.

"I'm really stupid. Rachel... She must have given me so many hints that she wanted to break up." Percy takes a breath. "The only thing that stopped her was getting pregnant."

"Are you angry about that?"

Percy looks thoughtful. "I understand why she did it. In a way... I'm sort of thankful she didn't tell me until now. Because if I had known... Sophie would never have been born, would she?"

I nod in agreement. I couldn't think of Percy without Sophie. It was just surreal.

Percy shakes himself out of his thoughts after a while. "Come on, lets keep going."

* * *

My phone rings after a couple of minutes pass and I answer it.

"Annabeth!"

"Piper?" I asked, surprised at how urgent my friend sounds.

"Yeah, its me. Did you hear the news?"

I frown. "Uh, what news?" I inquire cautiously.

"Connor and Melissa and Brody are _moving_."

I think my jaw dropped, but I quickly spoke after that. "Hang on. _What_?"

"Yeah. He didn't tell us until now! He thought it would be a good surprise. Seriously, Connor has, like, no brains."

I would laugh if the situation wasn't so very shocking.

"When are they leaving?"

"As soon as Brody's school ends."

"That's like in two days!" I exclaim.

"Yeah. Brody's not very happy with it."

"Of course. He'll be leaving all of his friends." I think of Sophie and wonder what she'll think of this news. "What's the occasion?"

"New job offer. It was for both the Stoll brothers, but only Connor agreed to it. Melissa also got another job. So, I think its really settled," Piper said in resignation.

The two of us are silent, Percy has stopped walking and is waiting patiently. I mouth an apology to him but Percy just shrugs in response and gives me a lazy smile.

"Sorry, I got to go. Jason's calling me," Piper eventually says.

I smile. "Ooh, some alone time for the two of you?" I say suggestively, trying to lighten the somber mood. It works and Piper laughs in response.

"Oh, Annabeth, you have _no_ idea."

I snicker. "Oh well, see you. Have a nice day."

"Right, bye. Have a good day as well."

I hang up and slide my phone back in my pocket.

"You look upset a bit," Percy observes as I slip my hand in his.

I raise an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Some friends of yours are leaving?" Percy asks.

I nod. "Yeah. Some real close friends of mine."

Percy looks at me in sympathy. "I see."

"At least we'll still be in contact," I said, trying to see the bright side.

Percy bobs his head up and down in agreement.

We reach the house and when we knock on the door we only have to wait a few seconds until the door is swung open.

"Hi," An elderly woman says cheerfully. "Sophie's parents?"

I feel my cheeks heat up, but Percy just says, "Um, yeah."

I give him a look as the woman turns to yell something. Percy just winks at me and I see some of the twinkle in his eyes return with glee.

"How's your day been so far?" Percy asks politely.

The woman smiles. "Its been lovely. Sophie's a darling."

"Yeah, she is," I agree. Percy puffs his chest out with pride at the compliment of his daughter.

Sophie comes into the picture, followed by a girl with brown hair in pigtails.

"_Daddy_!" She says, happily, bouncing into Percy's arms. He greets her with a very warm hug.

"Hi, Soph," He said.

Then, Sophie sees me and her eyes widen in pleasant surprise. "Annabeth," She says, beaming.

"Had fun?" I ask. Sophie nods eagerly. She gestures to her friend.

"This is Elizabeth, but she likes to be called Liz," She adds very seriously.

"Hi Liz," Percy and I say in unison. Liz blushes and mumbles a soft greeting.

"And this is Mrs. Donovan, Liz's grandmother."

Mrs. Donovan smiles. "Well, its been a pleasure to have you here, Sophie."

Sophie smiles in turn. "Thank you for having me here," She said politely.

I can tell Mrs. Donovan's very impressed with Sophie's manners.

"Well, come back soon," She calls as Percy and I exit with Sophie holding both of our hands while walking between us.

"I will, thank you!" Sophie says over her shoulder.

Sophie tells us what she's been up to and after she does so, she gives us each a scrutinizing look.

"Are you two _dating_ now?"

Percy and I exchange glances and Percy is the one to tell her the good news.

"Yeah, we are."

Sophie grins so wide that I am amazed.

Then, the grin falters as she looks up at Percy worriedly.

"What about Mommy...?" She asks.

Percy looks a little bit off at the mention of Rachel. "Uh. She's fine with it."

Sophie smiles. "She's very nice, then." Then, she looks up at me. "My dad's a handful," She warns.

I smirk. "I know, but I think I can handle him."

* * *

We spend the rest of the day playing and talking with Sophie. She seems to be really happy now that Percy and I are together.

We tuck her into bed when its time and Percy and I sit at the living room.

"She really likes you," Percy comments.

"I'm glad. She's a lovely girl," I tell him.

Percy nods, a smile gracing his lips. "Glad you think so."

I lean towards him and watch Percy's eyes zero in on my hair. He reaches a hand out and tucks a stray curl behind my ear.

"Your hair," Percy mumbles, "Looks very nice."

"Yeah, you mentioned that you liked my hair. When you took me horseback riding."

Percy grins slyly. "That day was a good one."

I feel flustered all of a sudden. "Uh, yeah. A very good one."

Percy closes the distance between us, pressing his lips onto mine.

I smile against them as I kiss him back just as eagerly.

* * *

**Author's Note: Well, I'm not too happy with this chapter, but I hope you all enjoyed it nevertheless. I ended it pretty abruptly. I think there will be two more chapters of this. The last chapter will be the epilogue. I'm sorry for the long wait, I had a first version of this chapter which I liked much more than this, but I lost it... Don't ask how :p**

**Um, may I ask a favor from you anonymous reviewers? Could you please put a name - just any name - when you write a review? It would help me a lot xD**

**Anyways, I think I will make another PJO fanfic but it centers around Percy, Nico, Travis, Connor, Annabeth, Rachel and Katie! Each of their stories are entwined with each other so I think it will be pretty cool. What do you think about a story like that? **

**Please follow this story if you'd like to see more, favorite if you find it good, and review if you'd like to tell me how I'm doing or if you want to help me out with ideas :) I like suggestions.**

**So, take care till next time ;-D**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Fourteen - Wedding

**Disclaimer - I don't own PJO or HoO, Rick Riordan does. Nor do I any songs below.**

**Thanks to MyLifeofWriting, Unbrokenwarrior, PD34, Jay Foren, Nickicece, Sakura-Suzumura, FranAdams-DaughterofAchelois, Swimmy13, addisonreader, LunetteTala, Labrador1331, Tomboy22, Jedi1, littlemixlover17, Percabethluver (Guest), pd34 (Guest), Hope (Guest,) Anamika3468, FandomsUnite98, Ana-DaughterofHades, Green Flame Titan, alreadytorn, coolmango, DarkMagicianExorsist, shootingstarsareawesome, theburrowclock, allen r, Epicmaster24, TheGirlWhoScaredYou, KeishlaTheEpicwriter, everett2 (Guest), Wisegirlforever and all the guests!**

******Anonymous review replies -**

******everett2 - Thanks, I'm glad you find the idea interesting :) I didn't really like the last chapter because I sort of rushed it and think you can tell if you read it over again :/ Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter. **

******Gail - Well thanks! I'm glad you liked it so much. I mean, its not nothing new really :p I am planning to write another PJO fanfic, but not right after I finish this one. I have to post another new HG fanfic for the people who are waiting for that xD I hope you enjoy reading this chapter.**

**pd34 - Well here's the update, I hope you like it :)**

**- Thats true, Percy and Annabeth are quite OOC. I'll try to keep them as in character as possible in the epilogue. Thanks :)**

**Hope - I'm glad to hear that :) I hope you enjoy this chapter. **

**Anamika3468 - I'm happy you like it that much. Sorry, but I didn't get the end of your review :/ It got cut off. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the rest of this fanfic!**

**Guest who said 'Id love to read a story like that! that souns great! i love this story!' - Well, I'm glad you like the idea as well :) I'll do my best to have the epilogue of this story the best I can make it. **

**************Summary - There were many ways Annabeth Chase imagined that she'd meet her soulmate. Spilling her coffee on him certainly wasn't the way. She also didn't expect her soulmate to be such an idiot - a Seaweed Brain, in fact. Neither did she expect her soulmate to have a daughter.**

* * *

"Congratulations!" I beam at the newly married couple.

Jason and Piper are both wearing identical grins.

"Thanks," They both say in unison.

Silena appears at my side, hip bumping Percy as she does so. I can't help but raise an eyebrow when I see the action.

"Well, Piper, I see now why you chose Annabeth as your maid of honor," Silena states looking around the wedding reception. People are dancing, talking all around us. There's music in the background and a bartender serving drinks over at the corner of the room.

Jason nods in agreement before tugging Piper closer to him.

"Would you like to dance?" He asks shyly. Piper smiles.

"Of course," She said. She throws a wave to Silena, Percy, and I. "See you all later."

Silena looks at Percy.

"I'm Silena," She introduces herself.

Percy thrusts out his hand and she takes it. "Percy, Annabeth's boyfriend."

There is an awkward silence after Percy and Silena drop each other's hands. Silena is looking at him with an expression that clearly tells us both that she's expecting Percy to do or say something.

"Well?" She demands, finally breaking the silence.

Percy looks startled. "Sorry?"

"Aren't you going to ask your girlfriend to dance?"

Percy blushes furiously. "Oh, uh, yeah. Would you like to dance?" He asks sheepishly.

I try not to smile so much. "Sure," I said, flashing Silena a grateful look.

Percy leads me over to the dance floor and places his hands on my waist and I place my hands on his shoulders.

"Feels nice," Percy says after we sway in silence for a few minutes, listening to the slow song playing.

"Yeah," I agree.

"I'm not good at dancing," Percy suddenly admits.

"I'm not good at it either, so just shut up and hold me," I command bluntly.

Percy grins and tugs me closer to him. I don't object.

"You look very good in green," Percy says.

"Thanks," I said. "You look good in a tux."

"I do, don't I?" Percy agrees cockily.

"Conceited pig," I tease.

Percy lets out a chuckle.

"What was your wedding like?" I ask, not thinking before I blurt out my question.

Percy features tighten for a second and I regret my words instantly.

"Sorry," I apologize.

"Nah, nah," Percy shrugs, taking a breath. "Its fine. To be honest, my wedding was sort of like Jason's and Piper's. Except our vows were shorter."

I nod. "Oh."

Percy stares at me intensely for the next few seconds, I feel an extreme urge to fidget under his eyes.

"What?" I squeak.

Percy chews his lower lip, his green eyes darkening. I feel my breath hitch as he tugs me even closer.

"You know, I've never met someone with grey eyes before," Percy says huskily, before placing his lips on mine.

The kiss was the most rough, passionate kiss I had ever experienced. It was totally different from any other kiss I have ever shared with Percy - which was kind of a handful. Maybe even _more_ than a handful. I melted right into him, my hands sliding up his neck and into his dark hair that felt as soft as silk. I wondered how a guy could have that soft hair, but I didn't really want to think about my boyfriend's hair at the moment. I tugged on his hair, forcing him to lower his head.

Percy's lips slid against my own and I let my lips part, allowing him entrance. It felt weird to have a tongue in my mouth that wasn't my own, but once again it felt rather good. I let out a moan that I immediately regretted as I felt a smirk arrive on Percy's lips. I could just taste the aura of arrogance that was rolling off of him in waves.

"Stop that," I demanded weakly, my words smothered since my mouth was crushed against Percy's. He moved his lips away from mine and I instantly rued the words that had slipped out.

"Alright," Percy mumbled, his own voice just has hoarse as mine.

"No!" I whined instantly, my voice gaining volume, "Not the _kiss_, dolt."

Percy had enough guts to smirk at that and I tried my best not to let my hands fall down from his hair to go around his neck so I could strangle him.

"What do you mean, then?" Percy asked, suddenly whispering in my ear. The feeling gave me goosebumps and I shivered involuntarily.

"You know what I mean," I retorted feebly, "Stop looking so smug."

"Well, its hard not to feel smug when you discover that your girlfriend enjoys your kissing talents."

"You have no talents. Your lips are just doing their own thing," I said.

Percy pouted. "No need to be _rude_, Chase," He says.

"_Shut up!_" I command.

"Why should I?"

I try a different tactic. I let my voice drop into a sultry volume. "Because its hard to see you use those lips whenever they aren't against my own."

It was cheesy and stupid, I know, but the reaction I got from Percy made me feel very triumphant.

Percy gaped at me, his jaw dropping.

"Sorry?" He stammers, looking extremely flustered. He looked so adorable at that moment I wanted to smack kisses on him many times.

"You know _what_ I mean," I said simply, raising an eyebrow.

Percy's face goes even redder.

I decide to let him off easy, so I kiss him.

* * *

The reception lasts a couple more hours. Percy and I spend it together, talking to other people and occasionally making out in some dark corner of the dance floor.

I see all the looks Silena gives me and all of them are looks of approval or glee. Half the time though, I want to glare at her and tell her to stop looking at me like that whenever I'm trying to give Percy my undivided attention. Its hard to be romantic when your best friend is staring and smiling at you on the other side of the room. Its also sort of annoying.

I decide to let her off the hook, though, because she didn't exactly come with a date, so I can see why she can't give all that attention to someone else. I do see her dancing with some random single guy every now and then, but other than that, she's talking with Piper or some of our other high school friends.

At the end of the reception we all follow Piper and Jason out. Piper tosses her bouquet of flowers, and rather funnily lands in Percy's arms.

I try not to laugh to hard at the bewildered expression on his face, but I failed miserably.

We all waved at the car taking Piper and Jason away. Piper and Jason stick their heads out of a window and wave back at us as well.

I turn to Percy after the car is long gone, he is staring at the bouquet in his hands with an unreadable expression. Then, he looks over at me and I realize that there's a red tint in his cheeks.

"Here," Percy mumbles, sounding embarrassed. He hands me the bundle of flowers and I take it, offering a small smile.

"Thank you," I said.

Percy shrugs, the red tint blooming even more. "No problem," He murmurs.

After saying our farewells, Percy and I walk hand in hand back to his car. I remember the expression on Silena's face when I confirmed her assumption of how Percy gave me the bouquet. It was a mixture of glee and slyness.

Then, she had said cheekily of how Percy was soon going to put a ring on my finger. I wanted to die right on the spot when Percy had heard that. He had given me a peculiar look before taking my hand and saying his own goodbye to Silena.

"Hey, you know what Silena about…" I feel too awkward to finish the sentence, but Percy helps me out there.

"About me putting a ring on your finger?"

I nod. "Yeah. That. I… I hope that didn't make you feel -"

Percy wraps an arm around my waist, drawing me closer to him. We are nearing the car park now.

"I feel fine about it," Percy assures me. The sentence is simple and Percy doesn't seem to think any more of it. He begins humming a tune which I recognize as the Pokemon theme song.

"Um…" I disentangle myself from his grip and stare at him in disbelief. "_Pokemon_?"

Percy gives me a look. "Hey, I don't like playing Pokemon, but you have to admit… The song is catchy."

I cough lightly. "Right."

Percy comes to stand in front of me and begins belting out the lyrics, _"I'm coming up so you better get this party-_"

"Oh dear god," I moan, clapping my hands over my ears. "_Seriously_, Jackson?"

Percy laughs and throws an arm around my shoulders, making my knees feel as if they're going to pop beneath me momentarily.

"Come on, Chase, I don't want to be out here freezing my butt off for the rest of the day."

We resume walking.

"You know, its not that cold," I insist.

Percy rolls his eyes. "Yeah right. Its freezing."

I give him a dry look. "No, its not."

Percy sighs and deadpans. "Lets just get to the car."

"Sure, sure, but it really isn't that co-"

Percy twirls to his side to face me. "Shut up, Annabeth," He grumbles, before blessing me with _another_ mindblowing kiss.

"Uh... Hm…" Are all the words I can form afterwards.

Percy smiles brilliantly, before whisking me away to the car.

* * *

He drops me off at my apartment door, giving me a salute with a cheesy smile.

"I had a great time with you today," Percy tells me.

"You know, when you told me you were a bad dancer a couple of weeks ago, I believed you. Good job lying," I praise him.

Percy snorts. "I nearly stepped on your toes once or twice. Thats when those random kisses came out of nowhere. Not that I didn't hate kissing you."

"Good idea. Came out beneficial to the two of us then," I agree.

Percy laughs.

"Bye, Annabeth," Percy says, pecking me chastely on the cheek. Despite how quick his lips had touched my skin, I still felt exhilareted.

"Bye," I said, planting a big kiss on his lips.

After another brief makeout session against the wall, Percy finally bids his goodbye once again, looking very dazed. I say goodbye as well and watch as he dwaddles happily back to the elevator. I touch my lips, feeling as giddy as a schoolgirl.

* * *

**Author's Note: One more chapter to go! I'll be doing it in the POVs of Sophie and Annabeth, I hope you like that idea. I know this chapter is pretty short, but I hope you like it nevertheless. **

**Have any of you seen the Sea of Monsters? Personally, I thought it was better than the first, but I didn't exactly _like_ it. It was quite funny at some parts though. Well. Just a bit, I guess :p. Have any of you watched it? What did you think of it?**

**Hm... I've got a question for you guys, I hope it doesn't very personal. I don't think it is. Do any of you play piano? The reason I'm asking is because my boyfriend plays piano and our song on it is that Titanic song. I'm learning it right now and I was wondering if any of you know any good tips to learn real quick because I want to surprise him on our anniversary by playing it for him. **

**Anyways, take care till next time and I hope you enjoyed this chapter :)**


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